Richard Tice, the deputy leader of Reform UK, accused the Prime Minister of being “in complete denial of the reality”. Sir Keir accused US billionaire Elon Musk of trying to “whip up division” in the UK after he offered to fund a private prosecution of Hampshire police.
David Lammy has said Musk should “step back” from tweeting about the case of Henry Nowak and “get on with” his IPO.
The Deputy Prime Minister and Justice Secretary told Sky News: “I think there’s an IPO this week in the States on Starlink. Elon Musk should get on with that. I mean, tweeting over 100 times about this tragic, horrific case.
“Anyone who’s seen the video, it’s so harrowing and appalling. I’ve got two teenage sons.
“My heart goes out to the Nowak family. Let us not exploit their situation. They have asked for calm, they have asked of course for us to look closely at the issues around knife crime.
“Let us respect them. Elon Musk really, I think, he should stay out of this complex but painful situation for that family.”
He later added: “I urge Elon Musk to stay out of tweeting about this sensitive case.”
But he said he was not minded to stop using X as a platform.
“I don’t spend time on X surfing Elon Musk tweets, so I haven’t read them, but I’m not sure any of them reached the standard that require that. But I think it is appropriate for politicians to urge Elon Musk to step back.”
Police race action plans
The coroner who will preside over the inquest into Nowak’s death confirmed that it would look at whether any “act or omission by a police officer” caused or contributed to his death. The inquest will be held in front of a jury.
Police forces are under pressure to scrap race action plans after the National Police Chiefs’ Council told officers they should not be “colour blind” and should treat people differently depending on their ethnicity.
The police chief who oversaw the now infamous NPCC guidelines has said police forces must change wider society to end racism. Metropolitan Police Temporary Deputy Assistant Commissioner Alison Heydari, the director of the race action plan, said the plan aimed to reverse racism “not just in policing but around society”.
After meeting the Nowak family, Mrs Badenoch said: “Everyone knows I have strong views about how we should deal with equality under the law. What the family agreed with me on is that we need to bring common sense back, and that is what we should all be fighting for.”