RICHARD Tice was left fuming after being confronted over violent “race-based pogroms” which broke out in Belfast in the wake of an alleged murder bid by a foreign national.
Reform UK’s deputy leader refused to hear a question from a journalist during a press conference who had been attempting to ask whether he was concerned about suggestion his party had helped to inflame racial tensions.
Channel 4 News’s Paul McNamara said: “You’ve been asked whether or not you condemn the violence that we saw in Northern Ireland overnight, perhaps in part because of comments Nigel Farage made last week in relation to the Henry Nowak…”
At this point, a visibly angry Tice interjected: “Nonsense, absolutely ridiculous.”
McNamara again tried to ask his question, by saying “I’m just asking”, to which Tice replied: “And I’ve just answered. Thank you very much, Paul.”
After preventing the journalist from speaking another time, Tice said: “That’s a revolting accusation and you should be ashamed of yourself.”
Reform UK have been accused of escalating racial tensions in the wake of the Nowak case, where a white man was falsely accused of racially abusing his murderer, leading to the 18-year-old university student bleeding to death while being handcuffed by police.
Vickrum Singh Digwa was sentenced last week for a minimum of 21 years for the murder.
Nigel Farage staged what he styled as an “emergency address” in response to Digwa’s sentencing last week in which he said Nowak’s treatment should underline “that white lives matter just as much as black lives” and called for people to respond with “pure cold rage”.
Raising the matter at PMQs last week, Farage said the Nowak murder was evidence of “two-tier policing”.
Responding, Keir Starmer accused the Reform UK leader of using Nowak’s tragic death to sow “grievance and division”.
The Prime Minister said: “The grieving family have asked us not to respond in the way that the leader of Reform has responded.
“They have lost their son in the most appalling circumstances, and they make a simple plea of us as human beings to please not exploit that. We all need to reflect on the words of Henry’s father.
“My response – and the response of others, to be fair – has been focused on the lessons to be learned so that we can deliver justice. [Farage’s] response has been to appeal for rage. That is his response to a father who has lost his son and asked for that not to happen.
“Exploiting this tragedy to create grievance and division would be wrong in any circumstances, but to do it when the family are expressly saying ‘please don’t’ is unforgivable. It shows exactly who he is.”
Farage’s “white lives matter” slogan was displayed on a banner referencing the Nowak case at a gathering Glasgow on Tuesday evening which resulted in violent disorder.
Horrific attacks took place in Belfast the same evening which city MP Claire Hanna described as a “a race-based pogrom” after homes identified as housing migrants were evacuated then set alight or damaged.
Pastor Jack McKee, speaking on Crumlin Road on Tuesday, said: “They're good Christian people and they're getting put out just because they're black.”
