Minister dismisses ‘two-tier justice’ claim in light of Henry Nowak tragedy as ‘slur’ on police
Good morning. The most notable event of the day may occur late tonight when Andy Burnham, the Labour candidate for Makerfield and potential next prime minister, participates in an event. Yesterday, Burnham stated that at some point today he would respond to the Henry Nowak murder and the related issues concerning policing and race equality. It remains unclear whether this response will be delivered on Question Time (QT) or beforehand.
This morning, the government appears to be solidifying its opposition to claims that the Nowak case exemplifies “two-tier justice.” Reform UK is the primary party employing this phrase, though some Conservative members have echoed similar sentiments. Yesterday, Keir Starmer commented on the matter. This morning, Lucy Rigby, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, conducted an interview round and told that the allegation constituted a “slur” on the police. When questioned about the claim, she stated:
"Fundamentally, I think that is a slur on the thousands of police officers that go out to work every day, putting themselves in harm’s way to serve the public, to try and prevent crime, and to keep us all safe.
The suggestion that we have two-tier policing, which suggests at its heart that the police are on a sort of systemic basis pushing the interests of one group above another – I genuinely think is a slur on all those police officers that are serving this country day and night, seven days a week."
Here is our overnight story on the Nowak controversy, by Vikram Dodd, Peter Walker and Steven Morris.
Here is the agenda for the day.
- 9.30am: Emma Reynolds, the Environment Secretary, takes questions in the Commons.
- 9.30am: The Department for Education publishes annual figures on the number of pupils and staff in schools.
- Morning: Keir Starmer is on a visit in North Yorkshire, before attending the mayoral council, a summit with mayors from England.
- 11.30am: Downing Street holds a lobby briefing.
- Lunchtime: Peter Kyle, the Business Secretary, is speaking at a lobby lunch.
- 2pm: John Swinney, the Scottish First Minister, takes questions from MSPs.
- Afternoon: Kemi Badenoch is on a visit in Warwickshire.
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Jenrick claims it's 'ludicrous' to say Reform UK stoking division over Nowak murder
Robert Jenrick, the Reform UK Treasury spokesperson, was conducting a media round this morning. When asked to respond to claims that Nigel Farage was stoking division in his response to the murder of Henry Nowak, Jenrick described the accusation as “ludicrous.” He said:
"I was absolutely stunned by those ludicrous comments. There’s nothing that Nigel Farage has done which has encouraged division.
He has simply shown leadership in setting out the course of action that now needs to be taken to make sure that we fix this problem and treat everybody equally before the law."
On Tuesday morning, Farage stated that people should respond to the killing with “pure cold rage” and expressed concern about what might happen to Britain if “anti-white prejudice” was not stamped out quickly.
There will be one urgent question in the Commons at 10.30am concerning Russian attacks on civilian infrastructure. A Foreign Office minister will respond. Following business questions, Josh MacAlister, Minister for Children, will give a statement on care for children in care.
Reform UK gets £9m in donations in first quarter of 2026, including £7m from two crypto billionaires
The Electoral Commission has published figures for donations to political parties in the first quarter of 2026, revealing that Reform UK received £9 million. Lucy White from Bloomberg was the first to report the numbers.
"NEW: Reform UK has once again smashed party donation totals, raising more than £9m in the first quarter. Boosted by another £3m from Thailand-based crypto investor Harborne - just before Labour capped donations from overseas - and £4m from crypto entrepreneur Ben Delo"
The Delo donation was previously known. As Rowena Mason reported in April, Delo, a British billionaire convicted in the US for failing to implement adequate anti-money-laundering controls in his cryptocurrency business, stated that he had given Reform UK £4 million this year.
Delo has also announced plans to move back to the UK to avoid the impact of new legislation imposing a £100,000 annual cap on donations from individuals living abroad.
The ban came into effect on 25 March, introduced by Steve Reed, the Communities Secretary. It will affect Christopher Harborne, another cryptocurrency billionaire and Reform UK’s largest donor. Harborne is a British citizen residing in Thailand and donated £12 million to the party last year.
Today’s figures indicate that Harborne also donated £3 million to Reform UK in the first quarter of this year, suggesting the funds were transferred shortly before the cap was implemented.
