UK deputy prime minister challenges US vice president's immigration link to student murder
British deputy prime minister David Lammy told U.S. Vice President JD Vance that blaming immigration for the killing of a university student was inaccurate, emphasizing that the perpetrator was a British citizen.
Britain’s deputy prime minister and justice minister David Lammy said he spoke with U.S. Vice President JD Vance on Saturday to dispute the latter’s claim that immigration was a factor in the murder of 18‑year‑old Henry Nowak. Lammy described the phone call as robust and said he wanted to correct what he called “incorrect facts” presented by Vance.
Vance had posted on the social platform X that the incident warranted “righteous anger” and linked it to “the mass invasion of migrants, many of whom despise the West.” Lammy emphasized that the convicted killer, 23‑year‑old Vickrum Digwa, is a British national who was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum 21‑year term, and that the case has no connection to migration.
The murder, which occurred in Southampton after Digwa, who is Sikh, falsely claimed he was the victim of a racist assault, has been used by anti‑immigration activists in the UK. Police investigations into the handling of the incident are ongoing, and the Prime Minister’s office has warned against attempts to stir division. The victim’s father, Mark Nowak, has asked that the tragedy not be politicised but used to promote safer streets.