‘Mr. Vice President, you are wrong’: David Lamy rejects Vance’s ‘mass immigration’ claims in Henry Novak murder

British Deputy Prime Minister David Lamy said he called US Vice President Vance to tell him it was “wrong” to link Sikh man Vikrum Digwa’s murder of British teenager Henry Nowak to “mass immigration” and said the case had “nothing to do” with immigration.Lamy told the BBC on Sunday that he had had a “pleasant but powerful” conversation with Vance after the US vice president said Novak’s killing reflected the consequences of what he called a “massive invasion of immigrants” in Western countries.Lamy said he told Vance: “Mr. Vice President, you are wrong about this,” and stressed that the case “has nothing to do with mass immigration,” Sky News reported.Previously, Vance posted on X that 18-year-old Novak’s death was emblematic of the broader decline of civilization and argued that European leaders were failing to stand up against mass immigration and the “politics of self-hatred.”Lamy disputed that characterization, pointing out that Britain’s democratic and legal institutions were functioning properly. He noted that the perpetrator, Vickrum Digwa, had been convicted and that multiple reviews of police conduct, sentencing and policing guidance were ongoing.“This young man is British. Let’s clarify that,” Lamy said, referring to Digwa, who was born in the United Kingdom.Digwa, 23, was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 21 years for the murder of Novak in Southampton in December last year. During the incident, Digueva lied about being racially profiled and acted in self-defense.Public outrage intensified after body camera footage showed Nowak lying on the ground telling police he had been stabbed and struggling to breathe. One officer asked: “You were stabbed? Where?” Another officer responded: “I don’t think you were stabbed, man.”Lamy said he also reminded Vance of the wishes of Nowak’s family, who have repeatedly urged people not to use the tragedy to exacerbate divisions in society.“I urge him that tweeting in this way is not helpful,” Lamy said, adding that he had reminded the vice president that the family was calling for calm and wanted to avoid turning the case into an issue of “division and hatred.”According to Lamy, Vance defended his position by arguing that what he believed to be traditional Western values ​​were under attack. However, the British minister said he disagreed with Vance’s “caricature” of Western civilization and its decline.Despite their differences, Lamy stressed that the two remain on good terms. The two have struck up an unlikely friendship in recent years and remain in regular contact despite their political differences.Henry Nowak’s father, Mark Nowak, who has repeatedly called for his son’s death not to be politicized, said after the sentencing that the family did not want the tragedy to be used to create “further division, hatred or tension.”