Reform has pledged to ban Sikhs from carrying Kirpan blades and abolish police diversity plans following Henry Nowak’s murder.
Yusuf announces the proposed ban (Image: Getty)
Sikhs will be barred from carrying Kirpan blades and police diversity plans will be abolished in the first 100 days of a Reform government.
The announcement follows the backlash over the murder of Henry Nowak by Vickrum Digwa, a Sikh, in December last year.
Digwa repeatedly stabbed Nowak with a ceremonial bladed weapon whilst the young man walked home to his student accommodation after a night out.
Under current UK law observant Sikh’s are allowed to carry a kirpan, which is normally hidden from view.
These exemptions will be reversed by a new law proposed by Reform UK, which the party claims will end “two-tier policing in Britain”.
Zia Yusuf, the party’s home affairs spokesman, announced the policy despite Nowak’s father saying he did not want his son’s death to be used to create “hatred, division or tension”.
Police forces across the country are required to follow Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) rules which include the drawing up of Police Race Action Plans.
These plans are part of a nationwide initiative across England and Wales intended to eliminate racism from the service.
Mr Yusuf said they would ban the plans which he claimed trained officers to respond to accusations of racism made by Digwa “more seriously than the accusation of being stabbed.”
The Sikh murderer had told officers he had been subject to racial abuse by his victim.
Judge William Mousley KC, who sentenced Vickrum said that the killer had been “falsely claiming” that Henry had called him a racial slur.
Reform UK believes that the UK’s police have been subject to “progressive capture” fuelled in part by DEI initiatives.
Digwa killed Nowak with Kirpan blade (Image: Police handout)
Their new policy will see a ban of what they say is any discrimination in favour of minorities. That includes prohibiting recruitment that seeks to hire people from “underrepresented groups” in the workforce.
Law enforcement officers and staff will also be prohibited from spending time on community engagement events during work hours, such as Pride marches.
Dedicated DEI staff or officers will be moved into operation or frontline duties, or sacked. The law will also contain measures to remove religious exemptions around the carrying of weapons.
Nigel Farage, speaking earlier, said people should respond with “pure cold rage” to Mr Nowak’s treatment, which he said was evidence of a “two-tier culture”.
Speaking to the media earlier today the Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, said Mr Nowak’s family “don’t want this whipped up” and “Nigel Farage is completely wrong to use this to try and create division”.
