Build working-class unity against the far right
The shocking treatment of Henry Nowak by the police as he lay dying is a terrible reminder of the callousness the state regularly shows to those it labels ‘offenders’ – including many people who have actually done nothing wrong. As Henry’s family have correctly said, the primary blame for his death lies with his killer, who has now been sent to prison. But the police’s appalling treatment of Henry was inhumane and unjust.
Rightly, there is widespread anger at the role of the police in this case, who failed abysmally in their most basic duty of care. It does not require any special training to know that if someone tells you they’ve been stabbed and can’t breathe, ensuring their welfare is your first priority. But cynically, and against the clearly expressed wishes of Henry’s family, this is an issue which is now being seized upon by far-right activists – encouraged and egged on by Nigel Farage and other reactionary capitalist politicians.
There is now a coordinated and concerted attempt to use this tragedy as a wedge to turn back the clock on any small progress that had been made in addressing systemic racism – either in the police or in society more broadly. They want a Trump-style bonfire of any anti-racist or diversity training, education or regulation. Worse, they want to turn reality on its head, and present white people as the victims of racism in our society. The early indications are that the cowardly Labour government will tend to buckle to this demand and end up going along with much of the far right’s agenda. It is only the counter-pressure of mass anti-racist struggle that can fundamentally change the dynamic and force this back.
Mass anti-racist action, ideally led by the workers’ movement, which is the force in society best placed to cut across division, is also urgently needed to push back against the far right on the rampage. We need to organise to physically protect Black and Asian communities, which are increasingly under attack, and reclaim the streets.
Far right jumps on the bandwagon
As soon as the police body-cam footage of Henry’s final moments was released, Nigel Farage jumped to put out a statement. The Reform leader claimed Henry’s treatment at the hands of the police was down to the fact he was white, with his killer being an Asian Sikh (who had alleged Henry racially abused him). Farage claimed that “there is only one group that is being systematically discriminated against in Britain, and it is white people”. He went on to describe people of colour as experiencing “racial privilege” and to talk about the “pure, cold rage” he believes white people should feel over this issue.
Not surprisingly, many far-right activists took this call for “pure, cold rage” literally, and brought it onto the streets of Southampton last night. Hundreds reportedly took part in a deeply intimidating and violent riot, starting outside the police station and led by Tommy Robinson. This was the worst night of far-right rioting in nearly two years, since the Southport murders. Some of those involved were pictured giving the Nazi salute. This is an alarming reminder of the hardened fascist core central to whipping this up.
Racially motivated hate crimes rose precipitously in the aftermath of the far-right rioting in 2024. It seems grimly inevitable that this new offensive will result in a similar, or quite possibly worse, increase in racist attacks. There is a dangerous and hostile atmosphere currently being created for Black and Asian people living in Britain. Indeed, racist murders and attacks happen frequently, rarely receiving significant media coverage, much less drawing a chorus of outrage from capitalist politicians.
British police: still a racist institution
Henry Nowak’s mistreatment by the police was awful, but is unfortunately not completely exceptional. Poor, marginalised and working-class people of all races are often subject to violence and indifference from the police. This reflects the fact that the police’s primary role is to protect the established order in our deeply unequal society.
But it remains a fact that Black and Asian people are disproportionately likely to experience violence at the hands of the police – including to be killed by them. The history of British imperialism and colonialism, with all its bloodsoaked legacy, means racism is deeply embedded in our society, and is especially rife in its most reactionary institutions, such as the police. It should hardly be necessary to point this out.
Black people are a full seven times more likely to die following police restraint than white people. Indeed, despite making up only 3 to 4% of the population, Black people account for roughly 8 to 9% of deaths in custody. In certain areas of London, Black people are 48 times more likely to be stopped and searched than their white counterparts. Undercover investigations into the police have emphasised that racist sentiments are widespread among officers. The 2025 Panorama report on Charing Cross police station revealed officers describing Algerian and Somali immigrants as ‘scum’ and using the far right’s language of an “invasion” by migrants, to give one example of this.
Addressing this reality, and dealing with the general lack of accountability for the police in our society, is not something that can be done adequately by taking out a few bad apples, or by internal reviews in which the police investigate themselves. It is also not something that can be solved by diversity training or anti-racist policies, even if it is preferable to have these in place.
We need to fight for genuinely independent, trade-union-led inquiries into policing practices and deaths in custody. We need full democratic, community control and oversight of policing, to ensure that it is carried out in a way that protects the welfare of everyone in society. And fundamentally, the existing police forces need to be dismantled and completely reconstituted on the basis of a movement to completely transform society along socialist lines. Building such a movement, which is the only way to fight for a decent future for all working-class people, is the most urgent task we face. It is made even more so by the rise of the reactionary far right, which poses a fundamental threat to the workers’ movement. So if you agree, join Socialist Alternative!
