The police response following Vickrum Digwa’s fatal knife attack on Henry Nowak in Southampton has triggered strong criticism of police guidelines on positive discrimination in favour of minorities.

Nigel Farage is now demanding that these guidelines, which he says have resulted in two-tier policing, be abolished, reports The Telegraph. According to the Reform UK leader, Nowak was killed by DEI – an abbreviation referring to official principles of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.

The murder of the teenage pupil has sparked national outrage after he was arrested and handcuffed while lying mortally wounded, while the Sikh murderer who had stabbed him five times was treated as a victim by the police officers.

Nowak told the police “I can’t breathe” and “I’ve been stabbed”, but was ignored by the officers after the killer, Vickrum Digwa, convinced them that he was the victim of racist harassment.

Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary is accused of having placed such excessive emphasis on DEI that the police officers who handcuffed Nowak had been trained to react as they did.

The police force stated in 2022 that “being anti-racist, ethical and inclusive is at the top of our agenda”.

Hampshire Police provides mandatory DEI training to all officers as part of its race action plan, which promises to “understand the impact, trauma and history of policing in ethnic minority communities”.

Police officers themselves say that this training makes younger officers fearful:

Serving officers have told The Telegraph that junior officers are so afraid of being accused of racism that they “choose the safest option” when called to incidents involving someone from an ethnic minority, which means believing anyone who claims to have been subjected to racist abuse.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who has maintained a low profile in the Nowak case, has finally issued a statement saying that Hampshire Police has serious questions to answer.

At the same time, senior police figures are prepared to take a closer look at their own principles, which are in fact racist to the disadvantage of white people:

The National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) said that it was in the process of reviewing its own anti-racism guidelines, which advise officers to treat dark-skinned and light-skinned suspects differently. It states that “racial equity” does not mean “treating everyone equally or being colour-blind”.

Farage promises to prohibit such guidelines if he comes to power, The Telegraph reports.