Jen Craft MP

Labour East @EofELabour · Jul 24

Things we love to see on a Friday morning... 🌹🌹 Huge congratulations to our new Labour councillors in Thurrock, Amin Hoque and Jo Potter!

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Robert Jenrick @RobertJenrick · May 28

Since the murder of Henry Nowak there has been stony silence from the Government.

Not a peep from the Home Secretary.

Not a word from the Prime Minister who is normally quick to respond to deaths involving the police, both in the UK and abroad.

Remember the spectacle of him ‘taking the knee’ over George Floyd’s death? He won’t even say Henry Nowak’s name.

Henry’s death constituted a national scandal. An 18 year old, robbed of his future on a night out in Southampton after being brutally stabbed 6 times with a 21cm long ceremonial sword. Instead of helping him, the police initially arrested him as he bled to death after he was accused by his attacker of racial harassment. Henry was treated not as the victim, but as the criminal.

His murder could not have been more monstrous; the police response more shameful. 

So why has this appalling injustice been met with a collective shrug by politicians in Westminster? With the exception of a couple of us including Henry’s local MP, Jen Craft, it has not been raised in the House of Commons.

I asked the Home Secretary to launch an investigation into the police’s conduct and a debate on two-tier policing - needless to say I was rebuffed. 

The silence can be explained by the fact that most politicians are more interested in showing their supposed virtue by favouring minority communities at the expense of the majority. So they look away at injustices perpetrated by minorities, lest it colour the multicultural illusion they have that the country is a harmonious melting pot. And they ignore prejudiced laws and the conventions of so-called ‘anti-racism’ which lead to discrimination against the majority. 

The trial of Henry’s killer, Vickrum Digwa, may be over, but the questions are only just beginning.

Why did the police arrest Henry based on one allegation he had made a racial slur - something the prosecution described as a “wicked lie”?

Why was Henry’s handcuffing and arrest considered a priority for the police when he was in a critical condition?

Why do perceived racial sensitivities consistently appear to shape how the police enforce the law these days? 

The police have now apologised. But ‘sorry’ doesn’t cut it. Not remotely. Heads must roll for such a catastrophic failure. The bodycam footage must be released. And the police’s “anti-racist” training programmes need overhaul.

We can’t go back in time and undo what has been done. Henry’s family and friends will live with this forever.

But his tragic death should be a turning point. A clarion call for the authorities to act in a colour-blind way - treating people under the principle of equality before the law.

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