0:00
This question of the fallout, Emily, both political and social, of the Henry Novak murder and the policing of it, it's not going away, is it
0:09
It does seem odd that given how clear Henry Novak's family was just two nights ago
0:21
About what they didn't want to see. They didn't want to see that certain key politicians have taken them right in to this horror of race bait and tension and dog whistle
0:38
And I guess the questions we have to ask is, why would you do that
0:43
Why would you do that unless you felt you were entering a political panic of some kind
0:50
when Nigel Farage stood up in the Commons, and it was quite interesting because if you saw that exchange
0:57
in Prime Minister's questions, the person before him had been a Labour MP
1:02
It looked, if I'm honest, slightly stage-managed. The MP before him had asked a question
1:07
and Keir Starmer had made very clear that he didn't want to be taken down that road of politicising
1:13
what was clearly a horrendous tragedy for the whole family. Knowing that the Farage question was coming next
1:20
And then the Farage question comes. Yeah, it looked slightly set up, didn't it? And Farage
1:25
stands there And as ever his language is just I mean I don want to get sort of into the semantics too much but he very clever with the way he uses language because he goes just far enough
1:41
to tell a lot of his supporters what they should be doing next
1:46
and not too far so that he can get accused of anything. And I thought it was very interesting where he said, you know
1:53
there's a danger that could be getting worse. Now, what does getting worse mean? He was talking about the streets of Southampton
1:58
he said that violence had spilled out as if it was an organic thing
2:02
Violence doesn't spill out unless you have powerful voices telling people that they should be feeling angry heading down to the streets
2:10
It wasn't... Particularly when there has been that really powerful call from a family
2:15
not to do anything of the sort. Not to do that. Not to do that
2:18
And so why would you fly in the face of a father's own wishes? Why would you do that
2:24
And I guess the question that we're exploring on the newsagents today is
2:27
because they are feeling very cornered at the moment politically reform is feeling cornered
2:33
in the makerfield by-election where there is another party sort of even more of the right
2:40
snapping at their heels the restore party this is where it gets complicated because
2:45
rupert lowe's party restore has actually slammed reform's response to this and come out supporting
2:52
Kemi Badenoch, who I think has trodden a very careful, sensible line and been thanked for it
2:59
by Keir Starmer And so it the opposite frankly of what the family suggested It the opposite of what this should be about It should be about an investigation It should be about what on earth happened that night It should be about why the police failed to see And it has been about a trial which has ended and a sentence has been given
3:18
and judges' remarks have been heard. The processes have been happening. The process has been happening
3:22
There's a 21-year sentence for the murder at the centre and we know that there is an investigation into the father and the brother
3:30
that made the phone call as well. I think it's perfectly fair that there are questions for the police
3:35
They're perfectly fair there are questions about how that was seen, how the scene was police
3:40
And I mean, the overriding question for me is, why did nobody have a torch
3:45
You know, why did nobody shine a big light as soon as they arrived
3:48
so they could actually see what was happening? I mean, that seems extraordinary to me that, you know
3:54
we've talked about it being very dark and it being very confusing, but that seems pretty simple
3:59
but on the express explicit wishes of the father not to ramp up tension not to ramp up
4:06
violence not to make this about hate farage has stepped in and said it could be getting worse
4:12
and you need to feel rage what i noticed as well in the original cold rage pure cold rage comments
4:18
is he didn't say the rest you know he praised the family for their dignity and their restraint
4:24
And then he said the rest of us, he didn't say the rest of us should feel rage
4:28
He said the rest of us should respond with rage. That's a doing word
4:33
Yeah, it is. It's not a feeling word. And none of these are accidental
4:37
I mean, you've been following him. We been listening to him for decades now We understand those calls We understand when it kind of it pretty much a call to action and i thought what was fascinating in the commons today was there were lib dems i think sitting behind him
4:52
luke taylor danny chambers who were right behind farage and it i mean if it had been if it hadn't
4:59
been such a tragic situation it would have been pantomime because they were shouting at him you've
5:04
incited this shame on you call it out call out the violence and he sat there almost glowing with the
5:12
with the sort of you know the criticism that was coming at him like that's he basks in it and i
5:17
noticed in kia starmer's response which was a very strong response very yeah um i noticed
5:23
everybody's got a little tail haven't we've all got a something that we've noticed um i noticed
5:28
he bit his lip you know only about the inside of your face sometimes if you're a bit i always do
5:32
that. I do that as well. If I'm a bit uncomfortable or quizzical, I'd be like, hmm. Who was doing
5:36
that? Farage. Bit his lip. So you think, well, I think, I mean, this is really interesting
5:42
because the last by-election that they fought with, you know, what was his name? Matt GPT
5:51
they call him, you know, the one who sort of seemed to plagiarise a lot of his book
5:57
from AI. He stood and lost for reform. And there is a lot riding on this for them. So, I mean
6:04
there is a sense that they're feeling pincered and that they're going after, you know
6:09
slightly lashing out whatever works. Well, I look forward to listening. News Agents Podcast drops at five at the usual time. Thank you very much, Emily
6:17
Emily Maitlis, co-host of the News Agents Podcast
