The British Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, accused technology entrepreneur Elon Musk on Thursday of trying to ''sow division'' in the United Kingdom following a series of posts on social media X related to the murder of student Henry Nowak, a case that has caused intense public outrage and reopened the debate about the actions of the British police.
The controversy revolves around the death of Nowak, 18, who was stabbed last year in Southampton by Vickrum Digwa, a citizen of Indian origin and Sikh religion. In the moments following the attack, Digwa managed to convince the responding officers that he had been the victim of a racist assault by the victim himself.
As a result, the police initially treated Nowak as a suspect. Footage released after the sentencing of Digwa shows officers restraining and handcuffing the young man while he was dying from stab wounds. In the video, the victim can be heard insisting that he had been stabbed and that he was having difficulty breathing, while the officers failed to recognize the severity of his injuries.
The British student Henry Nowak was murdered last year by an Indian citizen who falsely accused him of racism.
The release of the recordings sparked a wave of outrage across the country and fueled strong criticism of the security forces. Various protests took place in several British cities, as questions grew about whether ideological factors or fears of being accused of discrimination influenced police actions.
In this context, Musk used social media X to denounce the significant problem within Western institutions. The entrepreneur argued that the British police showed an automatic predisposition to believe the accusations of racism made by the assailant without verifying the facts.
''Did you know that the official policy of the police forces them to adopt a racist attitude towards whites? It is completely unacceptable and must change immediately,'' Musk wrote in one of his most commented posts.
In another message, the owner of X stated that ''the West has created a completely evil state religion where an accusation of racism is the most serious offense that can be committed, even worse than rape or murder.'' He also argued that the officers ended up treating the injured young man as guilty while the real attacker avoided immediate identification.
Elon Musk criticized the British police for their shameful actions in the case and the Western institutions.
The statements generated a strong reaction from the British government. KeirStarmer condemned the entrepreneur's posts and accused him of trying to exacerbate social tensions.
''Musk has once again been interfering in our politics over the past few days, trying to foster division. That is not who we are in Britain,'' the Prime Minister stated to reporters.
However, criticisms against Starmer quickly emerged. Various commentators and political figures pointed out that the government has dedicated more efforts to questioning Musk's opinions than to addressing the questions raised by the images from the Nowak case.
Critics of the Prime Minister argue that the recordings show a serious institutional failure and that it is legitimate to demand explanations as to why the police repeatedly ignored the pleas of a young man who was losing his life. They also argue that the debate about biases in police actions should not be dismissed simply because it is politically uncomfortable.
The socialist Prime Minister of the United Kingdom attacked the owner of X and accused him of "creating internal divisions" in the country.
For many observers, Musk's statements reflect concerns shared by a large part of British society regarding the unequal application of certain policies related to diversity and discrimination.
The controversy also revives previous confrontations between Keir Starmer and Elon Musk. In January 2025, the tycoon harshly criticized the then Labour leader for his actions when he headed the Crown Prosecution Service, accusing him of not pursuing sexual exploitation gangs mostly made up of men of Pakistani origin. Starmer then rejected those accusations and defended his professional record.
Meanwhile, Henry Nowak's family has tried to maintain some distance from the political dispute. After meeting with Starmer, the family described the treatment received by the young man as ''inhumane and degrading,'' but reiterated that they do not wish for his death to be used to foster further social divisions.
The British police were harshly criticized by the family of the murdered young man, describing the treatment as "inhumane" and "degrading."
