Minister criticises anti-discrimination guidance to police amid Southampton protests

Sarah Jones says guidance that black and white suspects should be treated differently gives ‘wrong impression’

Anti-discrimination guidance to police that black and white suspects should be treated differently “gives the wrong impression”, according to the policing minister, who said protesters involved in overnight violence in Southampton should not be allowed to shape the reaction to the murder of Henry Nowak.

Two people were arrested after unrest in Southampton after the sentencing of the 18-year-old’s killer, Vickrum Digwa , who told police attending the scene of the stabbing in the city on 3 December 2025 that he had been the victim of a racist attack.

The far-right activist Tommy Robinson was among speakers who addressed a crowd outside Southampton central police station at the “Justice for Henry Nowak” protest. Nowak’s family were not involved and have said they do not want his death to be “used to inflame division or hostility”.

The policing minister, Sarah Jones, condemned the violence, but anti-discrimination and anti-racism training in police forces is now also coming under pressure from Reform UK and the Conservatives.

The National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) announced it would review the anti-racism guidance, which advises police to treat ethnic minorities differently to get them better outcomes, and which some have blamed for the actions of the officers who arrested Nowak.

Nick Timothy, the shadow justice secretary, said in an interview on BBC Breakfast on Wednesday: “Our law enforcement and our criminal justice system are being corrupted by political correctness and leftwing ideology.”

Jones rejected Timothy’s comments, though she endorsed the NPCC’s review of its guidance and said the government did not believe the language was right.

The NPCC says in its anti-racism commitment that it aims for “equality of policing outcomes of people from different ethnic groups by responding to individuals and communities according to their specific needs, circumstances and experiences,” and that this does not mean treating everyone the same or being colourblind.

Jones told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “We think the language is wrong and it gives the wrong impression. I don’t think it affects how our training is doing, but people are right to ask questions when they have seen such an horrific incident.”

On Times Radio, Jones said: “Everyone must be equal under the law and we must ensure that is the case,” adding: “We can’t shy away from what are historic and legitimate concerns about racism within police forces.”

There are concerns that forces on the right are using the circumstances of Nowak’s death to set the scene for a rollback of changes in policing practices and culture that came into forces in the decades since the Macpherson report , the landmark judicial inquiry into the racist murder of the black London teenager Stephen Lawrence.

Reform UK has maintained its pressure after Nigel Farage’s intervention on Tuesday in which he said the reaction to the murder of Nowak should be “pure cold rage”.

The party released a document overnight pledging to enact an “equal treatment act” within the first 100 days of entering government, which would prohibit police race action plans, eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion practices and end the exemption for Sikhs to carry large bladed knives.

Reform’s home affairs spokesperson, Zia Yusuf, claimed that the death of Nowak was “a direct result” of police initiatives like the Hampshire and Isle of Wight police race action plan.

The NPCC chair, Gavin Stephens, has said: “We are listening to legitimate concerns about how some of these commitments are worded or phrased, and where needed we can and will make changes, but this should not detract from the intent, which is to improve the quality of policing.”

The Tory leader, Kemi Badenoch, has said “pernicious identity politics” had led to the country “going backwards”.

In a Daily Mail article, she said there was a need to “sweep out a lot of the historic, incoherent nonsense that has been brought in under the guise of anti-racism”.