Faced with being outflanked by those to his right, Farage seeks to channel public anger

The full horror of Henry Nowak’s last moments was only just sinking in on the morning after the release of police footage showing him pleading for help when Reform UK served notice that its leader would be making an “emergency address”. Appearing via a live stream from a location with fields in the background, Nigel Farage paid tribute to the “extraordinarily dignified” response of the Nowak family, before wading in with remarks of his own. “I suggest the rest of us respond to this with pure cold rage,” Farage said. Henry Nowak (pictured) was stabbed by Vickrum Digwa, who has been jailed for at least 21 years. Photograph: Hampshire police/PA He went on to link the case of Nowak – handcuffed by police after being fatally stabbed by a Sikh man who claimed the student had racially abused him – to “anti-white prejudice” and call for the “promotion of the idea that white lives matter just as much as black lives”. Of course, a few months ago Farage might have been expected to call a press conference to take questions on the Nowak case – or any others. But Farage has been unusually reticent to host press events in recent weeks: the Guardian’s revelations about the £5m gift he received from the crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne , and his much-derided claim that his phone had been hacked by the Russians may be behind his unwillingness to answer questions. Farage called an 8am press conference after the murder of Henry Nowak. …