Kemi Badenoch says murder of Henry Nowak is a ‘Stephen Lawrence moment’ as bodycam footage released

Kemi Badenoch has said the murder of Henry Nowak is another “Stephen Lawrence moment” for British policing.

Speaking to GB News, the Conservative Party leader gave her emotional reaction to the killing of the 18-year-old student and his treatment by police just moments before his death.

Murderer Vickrum Digwa falsely accused Henry Nowak of racism, leading the police to handcuff the teen after arriving at the scene.

“I can't describe how I felt. Even thinking about it now makes me incredibly emotional,” Mrs Badenoch said.

The Tory leader rejected the suggestion that the case could be compared to the killing of George Floyd in 2020.

“I think this is a moment in the way Stephen Lawrence was. Let's use our own country's examples,” she told The People’s Channel.

“We do not have institutionally racist police. I think that we need to look at the laws we have today. They are not necessarily fit for purpose.

“We can't keep acting as if the UK is in the 1940s or the 1970s. We are not a racist country.

“We need equality under the law, not special treatment for people based on the colour of their skin, whatever that is.

“And the Government should pass a law to ensure that.

“In theory, we have laws to ensure that. But you look at all of the guidance that comes out, all of the interpretation. That's where it's going wrong,” Mrs Badenoch said.

The Conservative Party leader also addressed gestures such as a minute's silence in the House of Commons, which Keir Starmer and other MPs observed following the death of George Floyd.

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“So we need more than that. We need the whole of society to start looking at what we're doing.

“All of the companies, all of the public bodies, all the people who took the knee for a man in the US who died had nothing to do with us. Where are they now?

“It was all a big fad. And if more people had done what I did, resisted the pressure, then we would have more sensible policing.”

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