Starmer accuses Musk of sowing division in the UK after the billionaire's social media campaign over the Henry Nowak murder case

The prime minister's accusation

Prime Minister Keir Starmer directly accused Elon Musk of attempting to "whip up division" in the United Kingdom on Thursday, following a week-long social media campaign by the X owner focused on the murder of 18-year-old student Henry Nowak. Starmer told reporters that Musk had been "interfering in our politics over the last few days, trying to whip up division," and insisted that "that is not who we are in Great Britain." The prime minister's remarks, made during a visit to York, mark a sharp escalation in rhetoric between the British government and the American billionaire.

We need to assert who we are as a country because Musk, once again, has been interfering in our politics over the last few days, trying to whip up division. That is not who we are in Great Britain.

Starmer urged the public and politicians to follow the example set by Nowak's family, who have repeatedly called for calm and asked that the tragedy not be used to fuel political or social conflict. A spokesperson for the prime minister said Starmer planned to meet with Nowak's relatives at 10 Downing Street later on Thursday.

The murder of Henry Nowak

Henry Nowak, an 18-year-old student of British-Polish descent, was stabbed to death on 3 December 2025 in Southampton. His attacker, 23-year-old Vickrum Digwa, used a ceremonial Sikh knife known as a shastar during a dispute over a mobile phone. Digwa falsely told responding police officers that he had been the victim of racist abuse, leading officers to handcuff the gravely wounded Nowak while ignoring his pleas that he could not breathe. Police bodycam footage, released with the family's permission, shows Nowak repeating "I can't breathe" multiple times before losing consciousness and dying at the scene.

Share the video with everyone you know, showing the atrocious treatment Nowak received from the police in his final moments and how the police cowardly bowed to his murderer.

Digwa was convicted of murder and sentenced on Monday to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 21 years. The judge reportedly told Digwa that his lies had brought shame on his family, his community, and his religion.

Musk's social media campaign

According to a Financial Times analysis cited by multiple outlets, Musk published, shared, or replied to more than 110 messages related to British politics between 27 May and 4 June, with many focused on the Nowak case. Musk repeatedly shared the police bodycam footage and drew a direct comparison to the 2020 killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, arguing that mainstream media outlets that covered Floyd extensively were now maintaining a "deadly silence" about Nowak. In one post, Musk asked his followers whether they knew that official UK police regulations "require them to be racist towards white people," referencing the force's anti-racism guidelines.

Far-right unrest and political fallout

Despite appeals for calm from Nowak's father, who asked that his son's murder not be used to fuel "division, hatred and tensions," serious unrest broke out in Southampton on Tuesday. Police reported that eleven officers were injured during clashes involving far-right groups. Nigel Farage, the leader of Reform UK, was criticised by Starmer a day earlier for using the case to stoke hate speech. Far-right figures in Britain and abroad have seized on the bodycam footage as alleged proof that anti-racism policies within British police forces have led to systemic discrimination against the white majority population.

I call on all politicians to go back and listen to what the family is asking of us, which is to keep calm and not allow this case to be used to whip up division.

Musk, who has been a long-standing critic of Starmer since the prime minister's early months in office, also offered to finance a lawsuit against the police on behalf of the Nowak family. The broader clash between the two men dates back to Musk's earlier campaign against Starmer over the so-called grooming gangs scandal.