The tragic death of Henry Nowak and a political reckoning
6/2/202632 min
- Nigel Farage has said that the death of Henry Nowak is proof that "we’re living in a two-tier culture...where the rights and privileges of white people matter less than those of ethnic minorities". Police bodycam footage shows Nowak, 18, being arrested for alleged racial abuse minutes before he died from stab wounds in December 2025. It's a tragedy that's very quickly become political. We explain why it's an issue that's particularly tricky for Labour to respond to.
- Also, a snapshot of strange by-election campaign where cabinet members are not welcome, Labour MPs might be allowed a selfie with Andy Burnham (if they're lucky), and the future of the country is decided upon by a tiny group of people in a club where they hold auctions of exotic birds.
- And what the Mandelson files tell us about the Labour Party – and about Patrick Maguire Syndrome.
Steven Swinford, political editor, The Times
Patrick Maguire, chief political commentator, The Times
Lara Spirit, deputy political editor, The Sunday Times
Producers: Euan Dawtrey, Harry Kitson
Executive producer: Molly Guinness
Picture: Henry Nowak with his father, Mark (Family handout/PA)
Audio: PA, ITV
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Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsNigel Farage· Soundbite0:00
[rousing music] Remember career criminal George Floyd. Remember the reaction to that, and the way the police behaved. Within a few days, Keir Starmer was taking the knee, Churchill's statue was defaced, the Cenotaph was vandalized, and yet what has the public reaction been from our leaders and politicians, and indeed, to be frank, much of the media to this? Silence. Absolute silence. Proof, if ever there was any, that we're living in a two-tier culture in this country, where the rights and privileges of white people matter less than those of ethnic minorities.
Kemi Badenoch· Soundbite0:38
What Nigel Farage is doing is reinforcing the difference. I have said that we need to find what we have in common, not what separates us. I don't want to hear about Black Lives Matter. I don't want to hear about White Lives, Lives Matter. We all matter. Enough of this nonsense where we keep separating everybody and splitting people into different groups. We are descending into tribalism. I do not want that.
Steven Swinford· Host1:00
Welcome to The State of It, the political podcast from The Times and The Sunday Times. I'm Stephen Swinford, the political editor at The Times.
Patrick Maguire· Host1:08
Uh, I'm Patrick Maguire, chief political commentator for The Times.
Lara Spirit· Host1:11
I'm Lara Spierer, deputy political editor for The Sunday Times.
Steven Swinford· Host1:14
And look, we're gonna be looking at two broad, uh, issues this week, the two big stories today. The first is the, the awful, appalling murder of Henry Nowak, um, and the political responses that we're seeing already today, and there'll be more coming this afternoon, I'm sure. And the second