A murder exploited: Britain's George Floyd moment that wasn't

英国版弗洛伊德时刻

The Intelligence from The Economist

2026-06-04

24 分钟
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单集简介 ...

Nigel Farage, leader of the populist-right Reform UK party, wants Britons to be enraged by a killing in the street. We ask why his tone has changed from “colour-blind” to race-baiting. NATO must now take seriously the idea that America is pulling back; we ask how it is adjusting. And why skipping title sequences is forgoing some of television's magic. Guests and host: Hugo Gye, British political correspondentJonathan Rosenthal, international correspondentAndrew Miller, “Back Story” columnistJason Palmer, co-host of “The Intelligence” Topics covered:  British politics, race relationsNATO, American foreign policytelevision, media
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  • The Economist.

  • Hello and welcome to The Intelligence from The Economist.

  • I'm Jason Palmer.

  • Today on the show, how NATO is preparing for life without America

  • and what is lost when everyone skips TV show intros.

  • But first.

  • A content warning here.

  • You're about to hear some of the last words of Henry Novak, an 18-year-old student.

  • A police officer is speaking to him shortly after he was stabbed in the English city of Southampton.

  • The police handcuff Henry and initially ignore his pleas.

  • The last thing you can hear him say on the recording is, "Please, brother, I can't breathe."

  • For many people, those words will spark a grim memory from six years ago.

  • In Britain, one party, one man, wants to use Mr. Novak's death to make more of that echo.

  • Henry died on the 3rd of December last year,

  • but the police bodycam footage of his final moments has only just been released after the conclusion of his murderer's trial.

  • Hugo Gye is a British political correspondent for The Economist.

  • Some figures on the British right have compared the way he was treated by police

  • to the death of George Floyd, which sparked the Black Lives Matter movement in 2020.

  • The police have apologized for the way that Henry was treated as he was dying,

  • but nonetheless, the case has attracted national attention and become a major political talking point this week.