UK PM Starmer Accuses Elon Musk of Interfering in British Politics Over Henry Nowak Murder Case

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has accused Elon Musk of interfering in British politics and “whipping up division” over the murder of 18-year-old university student Henry Nowak. The X owner has made several posts about the case, which has triggered public outrage and protests in Britain, as well as a public apology from the prime minister. Nowak was fatally stabbed five times with a large blade in December by Vickrum Singh Digwa, a 23-year-old Sikh man, who falsely claimed to police that he had been the victim of a racist attack. Video footage released after Digwa’s sentencing shows officers ignoring Nowak’s pleas, dragging and handcuffing him as he repeatedly said he had been stabbed and was struggling to breathe. He later lost consciousness and died. Digwa was convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment, with a minimum term of 21 years. The footage has sparked public outrage and a political firestorm in Britain, with Musk among those accusing police of treating the teenager differently because of his ethnicity. “Send the video to everyone you know showing how heinously Nowak was treated by the police in his dying moments and how the police cravenly kowtowed to his murderer,” Musk wrote on X on Tuesday. After meeting Nowak’s family at Downing Street on Thursday, Starmer said Musk was “again… interfering in our politics in the last few days, trying to whip up division. That is not who we are in Britain.” The billionaire has posted repeatedly about the case, suggesting police were biased against white people and amplifying criticism of how officers handled the incident. “The West has created an utterly evil state religion where an accusation of ‘racism’ is the gravest offense that can be committed, even worse than rape or murder!” Musk posted on Wednesday. Earlier this week, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said the case showed Britain was living in a “two-tier culture,” where “a false accusation of racism counted higher at that moment than someone that was dying.” Musk has repeatedly targeted Starmer, including in January 2025 when he accused the UK prime minister of failing, as chief public prosecutor from 2008 to 2013, to prosecute grooming gangs largely made up of South Asian men who sexually abused girls.