What is clear is that Nowak’s family did not want their son’s death to provoke an angry conversation about race, or divide the country. They do want answers and accountability for the police’s action. They want Digwa’s 21-year sentence to be reviewed. And they want the law changed so that large Sikh ceremonial knives are not exempt from the rules on carrying weapons.
They are pressing that case with senior politicians, and have met the prime minister and Kemi Badenoch. They’ve also received a letter of condolence from Sir Ed Davey. As I write, despite his very public mentions of the case, the family has still not had any direct contact with Nigel Farage.
There is, of course, an important conversation to be had about modern policing. There is a serious debate to be had about whether fears of causing offence or being accused of prejudice alters behaviour, particularly in the public services on which we all rely.
But Reform is overtly using this case aggressively to make their wider arguments about the country, safe in the knowledge that while other politicians, and some of the public, find their arguments repellent and wrong headed, some of their supporters are on side.
Polling from the fractious summer of 2024 for the research group More In Common suggested that only 18% of voters overall believed the police treat ethnic minorities more favourably than white people. But among Reform voters, that number jumped to 47. This is a message that appeals to Farage’s base, and he’s not afraid to use it.
But a horrendous tragedy for one family is being used by some politicians to stir online outrage, and provoke a debate about race. A textbook example of politics in the 2020s – a terrible event on the streets of Southampton – now an angry transatlantic argument about race.
