Mr Farage then went on to say in Parliament that it was “now clear to growing millions in this country that we are living under two-tier policing”. The Reform UK leader was heckled during Prime Minsters Questions and urged to condemn violence in Southampton after saying there was a danger of it getting “considerably worse […] if the public lose trust in being treated fairly by the police.”
Speaking to GB News, Reform treasury spokesman Robert Jenrick said it was “ludicrous” to suggest that Mr Farage’s response to the murder was stoking division.
Mr Jenrick was asked about the claim, which had been made by Lucy Rigby, a Government minister. Ms Rigby told the channel that the right response was “respecting the wishes of Henry’s family, which of course were to not exploit his death to further create tensions”.
She went on to say: “The response that we had unfortunately from the leader of Reform, Nigel Farage, which is to stoke anger, division, you know, effectively incite violence against some of our brave police officers … I think that was entirely the wrong approach.”
Mr Jenrick said he was “absolutely stunned by those ludicrous comments.”
He added that there was “nothing” his current party leader had done which had encouraged unrest saying “[Farage] has simply shown leadership in setting out the course of action that now needs to be taken to make sure that we fix this problem and treat everybody equally before the law.”
Reform UK has also called for the banning of the Kirpan knife, a religious blade for which exemptions are granted in law, and the removal of Police Race Action Plans.
They made the calls despite the father of Henry Nowak asking people not to see their son’s murder as a way to spark further division.
Mr Jenrick said that the “best service” politicians can do for the Nowak family is “to honour him is to make sure that we never again see a young lad treated in that appalling fashion.”
He said Reform wants to bring forward an “equal treatment act” whereby “everyone is treated the same by the police, irrespective of the colour of their skin”.