Corbyn urges people to ignore JD Vance’s comments about Nowak
Mr Nowak was fatally stabbed by 23-year-old British-born Vickrum Digwa, who said he had been the target of a racist attack.
Jeremy Corbyn has urged the public to tune out US Vice President JD Vance’s intervention over the death of 18-year-old Henry Nowak and instead heed the plea for calm made by the teenager’s father, Mark Nowak.
The former UK Labour leader, now an Independent MP, made the remarks in Dublin after days of violent confrontations between English nationalists and police across the UK following the December 2025 killing of Mr Nowak in Southampton.
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Mr Nowak was fatally stabbed by 23-year-old British-born Vickrum Digwa, who said he had been the target of a racist attack.
Writing on social media yesterday, a day after Digwa was sentenced on Monday to life in prison, Mr Vance said: “Henry Nowak died the same way a civilization dies: abandoned, handcuffed by authorities who neither trusted nor cared for him, and accused of hate crimes he did not commit”.
A spokesperson for the UK government condemned the remarks, saying they “have seen people trying to interfere in our democracy and seeking to stir up division on our streets”.
But when he was asked about the comments on his arrival at the Robert Tressell festival in the RDS, Mr Corbyn said the vice president’s remarks were best disregarded.
“What happened to Henry Nowak was appalling and tragic, by all accounts a decent young man causing no trouble to anybody is wantonly stabbed to death.
“The police response is to make a totally wrong judgement and fail to protect him when he needed protection,” Mr Corbyn said.
He added: “The idea JD Vance or the far-right British politicians would take advantage is absolutely appalling. I think people should listen to Henry Nowak’s dad, he didn’t want this, he didn’t want the far-right division and racism.
“He wanted people to respect his son’s life and respect his family’s need to grieve.
“So, I would respectfully say to JD Vance, we don’t need your comments, all we need now is respect for the Nowak family and a very full investigation into why the police behaved the way they did.”
