Sir Keir Starmer has called on “all politicians to just listen again to what” the family of Henry Nowak is asking for – saying MPs should not be trying to “whip up division”.

The prime minister has already lashed out at tech titan Elon Musk for “trying to whip up division” over the murder of Nowak in December and how the teenager was dealt with police in the moments before his death.

But now he has turned his fire on opposition politicians, in what appears to be an implicit attack on Reform UK.

Starmer told journalists in the past few minutes: “We really need to listen to Henry’s family because they’re asking us as politicians, as leaders, not to use his case to whip up division, not to cause disturbances. We have to listen to them. 

“They’re grieving. They’ve lost their son. And so everything I’ve tried to do in relation to this case has been grounded in what they must be going through. 

“Yes. We need to answer those questions. Yes. I think it’s right that there may need to be changes, and we shouldn’t shy away from that. Not for one moment. 

“But how we conduct ourselves now as politicians is really important.”

He added: “I call on all politicians, all politicians, to just listen again to what the family are asking of us, which is to remain calm, to show the leadership that’s needed here and not allow this case to be used to whip up division.”

A reminder that Nowak’s father, Mark, said on Monday the family wanted “Henry’s heartbreaking story to make change for the better”.

Mark Nowak added: “We do not want his death to be used to create further division, hatred or tension.”