‘Nigel Farage will get as close as he can to inciting violence – then step back’
Nigel Farage called for “cold pure rage” following the murder of Henry Nowak, but refused calls to condemn the violence on UK streets just hours after making his statement. Is the edge of incitement where he feels most at home?
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What’s the story?
Bricks thrown. Bins set alight. Police officers injured. Rioters arrested.
The family of Henry Nowak called for the 18-year-old's death to not be used to sow division in the UK, but the UK's far-right did not listen.
After a request from Tommy Robinson, hundreds of supporters descended upon Southampton to protest the death of Nowak, who died of stab wounds in December 2025 when police handcuffed him instead of helping, due to lies told by his killer.
The same day, Nigel Farage, leader of Reform UK, called on supporters to respond to Nowak's treatment with "pure cold rage".
“Nigel Farage has once again gone as close as he can to what feels like incitement, before stepping back,” says Emily Maitlis.
“He’s saying: ‘Oh no, I'm just saying you might feel quite angry, you might feel angry with the system, you might feel angry with the tragedy, you might feel angry with the outcome, I'm not suggesting you do anything – I'm just saying it would be normal to feel pure cold rage’.”
She says this is a “verbal tic” he has perfected, and allows him to always deny liability for what comes next.
“It wasn't him that sent people to Southampton,” Emily adds.
“It wasn't him that went on the train like Tommy Robinson to chant words which were almost certainly horrifying to Henry Nowak's family and friends. He can say it wasn't him that injured 11 officers.”
“Violence doesn't just spill out onto the streets, it emerges onto the streets when people like him incite it.”
Why is Nigel Farage getting involved in the Southampton murder?
This is not the first time Farage has made himself the centre of a British tragedy.
Immediately after the 2024 Southport stabbings at a Taylor Swift dance class, he suggested the truth of the story was being withheld from people, and that the killer was an Islamic extremist.
Riots followed, but Farage could not be directly connected to those either.
Emily says Farage has not been “present” in public politics recently, having been dogged by reports of a £5 million donation from a crypto-billionaire, and demands of more transparency.
But incidents like this is where he feels at home.
“There are a lot of things that Farage probably doesn't want to answer right now, and so he's leaning into the place that he feels most comfortable – this a very careful dog whistle,” Emily says.
“It means go and do your thing, and remember who we are.”
What’s the Farage game-plan here?
Jon believes Farage has bigger goals in mind than having wheelie-bins set on fire in a south coast city. He believes this is all about seats in the House of Commons.
One seat in particular, Makerfield, the crucial Manchester borough by-election which could see Andy Burnham return to Parliament, if he can beat Reform UK candidate Robert Kenyon.
“He'll do it by whatever means possible, and if that means stirring up the pot over this issue and make capital out of the tragic, appalling, horrendous death of a young man, then maybe he will, because it will serve the political ends he seeks,” says Jon Sopel.
“Presumably he thinks this will play well in Makerfield, and that is why he has done it, and that is he hopes will help his candidate win that by-election.”
Jon believes it is “entirely legitimate” for the police to investigate the far-right claims of “two-tier policing”, but says that needs to be done calmly as part of a process to determine what went wrong the night Henry Nowak died.
“Don't whip it up immediately now, before that work has taken place, just try to sow further division in a society and make life for police officers more difficult than they already are,” he adds.
But Farage may have not only misjudged the people of Makerfield, but everyone in the UK.
“This horrible swirl of misinformation and racialised ramping up is all happening in the hard-right periphery of who can say the most shocking thing. They think that's where the British public is,” Emily says.
“Actually my sense is the British public is not there at all.”
Emily believes the British public is with the family of Henry Nowak.
“All you have to do is go back to that poor boy's father, who must have anticipated this, who could have seen this coming, and said I don't want any more hatred,” she adds.
“It took them less than 24 hours to turn this into an absolute shit show.”