UK Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch has sharply criticized the police for apparently following guidelines that prioritize hate crimes when arresting Henry Nowak, who later died. Badenoch said that while watching the police video, she caught herself mentally urging officers to stop and at least listen to Nowak’s story and check whether he had actually been stabbed. Nowak was arrested in London in May after he himself called the police because he had been attacked. He died of his injuries a few days later.
Badenoch said she met Nowak’s family last week. They do not want the case to be used to divide society, she added. The family wants the police to become an institution that can be trusted again. Badenoch questioned why the police took a racism allegation more seriously than the statement that Nowak had been stabbed. She criticized that public bodies are no longer able to act with common sense when race or identity are involved.
The Conservative leader also attacked the so-called Public Sector Equality Duty, a legal obligation for public institutions to promote equality. This creates ‘inequality of outcomes,’ Badenoch said. She referred to the Macpherson report following the murder of Stephen Lawrence, which defines a racist incident solely by the victim’s perception. Badenoch rejected this definition. Equality law should be ‘a shield, not a sword,’ she argued.
The Henry Nowak case has sparked broad debates in Britain about policing and racism. Hampshire Police has already apologized to Nowak’s family and described the arrest video as ‘difficult to watch.’ EuroPulse reported on June 3, 2026, about the by-election in the UK that was overshadowed by the Henry Nowak case (europulse.today/grossbritannien-nachwahl-skandal-henry-nowak/).
Source: www.theguardian.com
