Protesters around Antrim Road subdued and dispersed
With the street in darkness, and fires spreading closer to the petrol station, the police line pushed forward, sending protesters running away from the scene.
After a standoff lasting hours, with the push forward from police, the rioters and spectators dispersed within minutes.
They left behind a street littered with bricks, and litter, driveways torn up to be used as ammunition, and burnt shells of vehicles. Firefighters moved in to tackle the empty house that was still burning.
By around 11.30pm the riot had ended, with residents coming out of their houses to survey the damage and watch the police pack into their vans and drive away.
Updated
Northern Ireland’s infrastructure minister has condemned the lighting on fire of a vehicle in a depot owned by her department in Co Antrim.
The vehicle was set alight during disorder at the Sandyknowles roundabout earlier tonight.
Liz Kimmins said a second night of destruction and disruption “needs to be condemned in the strongest possible way”.
“It is racism, it is intimidation and absolute thuggery,” she said.
“These acts serve no one and only cause harm and fear within communities. It is disgraceful and disgusting.”
As the fire continued to burn, a white van was driven into the flames, and, according to onlookers, an empty cottage close to the police line had also caught fire.
The crowd began to move back as the fire spread closer to a nearby petrol station, with one masked riot saying: “that’s gonna blow.”
The driver of the van had reportedly jumped out and left the van in gear, and allowed the vehicle to roll onto the flames, as police officers tried to extinguish the fire.
Updated
Knife attack victim's family says sharing of disinformation 'deeply distressing'
The sharing of false information on social media is “deeply distressing” and should stop, the family of Stephen Ogilvie, the victim of Monday night’s knife attack in Belfast, has said in a statement issued through the PSNI, adding that they had been left “feeling disgusted” by the disorder.
Ogilvie’s family have said he is in a stable condition.
The statement read: “We are completely devastated by the horrific attack on our loved one on Kinnaird Avenue. This has been a massive shock to our whole family, and right now, our only priority is being at his bedside and helping him recover.
“We have witnessed a lot of false information circulating on social media which is now forcing us to clarify that our loved one is in fact in a stable condition, and we are solely focused on his recovery at this time.
“We are also appealing to the media and the public to please give us some space. We need privacy to focus on our family right now, without cameras or people speculating about what happened via social media.
“We have been left feeling disgusted by the scenes that unfolded yesterday across Northern Ireland in the wake of what happened. We want to make it absolutely clear that to do this in response is not supported by our family, and peaceful protest is only ever the way forward. We have many migrants who make a deeply valuable contribution to our country, including from within our healthcare system and hospitality sector, and we depend on them to make our country work. We do not want this terrible tragedy to be used to divide people or fuel hostility - do not do this in the name of our loved one as we do not share the same values.
“We also wish to say a profound thank you to the local people who bravely stepped in during the attack. Your quick actions absolutely saved his life, and we will never forget what you did for him in that moment. We also want to thank the emergency services and the doctors and nurses looking after him.
“If you know anything at all about the attack, or saw anything strange near Kinnaird Avenue, please go to the police and stop sharing false information on social media, as it is deeply distressing.
“Thank you for respecting our privacy.”
Updated
Rioters have attempted to set fire to a property near a petrol station in Newtownabbey, with some throwing petrol bombs at police lines.
Footage showed masked demonstrators using a car and wheelie bins to start a large fire and form a barricade on Antrim Road in Newtownabbey, Co Antrim, down the road from riot police.
Some rioters ran towards the police line and threw petrol bombs towards officers and vehicles.
As darkness began to fall, and with the flames of the bonfire reaching two metres high, police again deployed water cannons and played a recorded message warning the crowd to “disperse immediately” saying force would be used against “violent individuals”.
Police have asked the public to avoid the Antrim Road area in Glengormley as officers continue to deal with disorder.
A police spokesperson confirmed that missiles, including bricks, bottles and masonry, have been thrown at police, and a bin has been set alight.
At the other side of the barricade, facing the line of riot police, the mob had set a bonfire in the street, using petrol to burn wheelie bins, tyres and furniture.
Some threw petrol bombs onto the flames, while others threw fireworks at police, as a huge plume of acrid black smoke stretched skywards.
By 10.30pm there were still two to three hundred rioters and onlookers out on the street as the clashes continued.
A large Department for Infrastructure vehicle was in flames as demonstrators confronted the police after they gathered near the Sandyknowes roundabout in Newtownabbey to the north west of Belfast.
Footage showed dozens of men dressed all in black and wearing face coverings gathering on Antrim Road, where they could be seen tearing bricks from properties and smashing paving stones with sledgehammers to create projectiles to throw at riot police.
They could also be seen taking wheelie bins from outside homes and lighting fires in them.
Balaclava-clad rioters also broke open a metal fence to access the Sandyknowes Wastewater Pumping Station and removed a garden fence to use as a shield against the police water cannon.
Videos shared on social media showed protesters attempting to march to the Chimney Corner Hotel, with riot police and several vans being deployed to manage the demonstrations.
At one point, police turned the water cannons on the gathered spectators, who briefly pushed back further into the park. Later, one onlooker had to be given first aid by armed police after being hit on the head by a flying rock and taken to hospital by ambulance.
One police officer was also struck on the head, but not believed to be seriously injured. One of the police vehicles also lost a wing mirror after being attacked.
Updated
Riot police have run towards masked people who attempted to hit them with bricks and other projectiles in Newtownabbey.
Footage showed rioters retreating down Antrim Road in the area of Co Antrim north of Belfast as a line of riot police and vehicles approached them.
The rioters have set fire to wheelie bins and removed a garden fence to use as a shield against a police water cannon – with police vehicles driving over the fence.
Balaclava-clad rioters were also seen breaking open a metal fence to access the Sandyknowes Wastewater Pumping Station.
An 18-year-old man has been arrested after a petrol bomb was thrown at two police officers during disorder in Carrickfergus on Tuesday night.
Police said one officer was taken to hospital for treatment while the other was treated at the scene.
The man was arrested on suspicion of riot at an address in Carrickfergus, Co Antrim, on Wednesday.
According to locals, the mob had attempted to target the hotel, but it had already been closed off by police. One said officers had tried to move residents earlier in the day, but some did not want to leave.
Instead, violence spilled into a nearby residential street. Police and their vehicles were pelted with bricks, rocks and wheelie bins, in a standoff lasting several hours.
A group of spectators gathered in a nearby park to watch, some filming the violence, with one rioter shouting: “Put your fucking phones away or you’re fucking next.”
Updated
Bricks, bins and traffic cones launched towards police
Bricks, wheelie bins and traffic cones are being launched towards police to the north of Belfast by masked rioters as the disorder intensifies.
Footage showed rioters wearing face coverings and all-black outfits, advancing towards police on Antrim Road in Newtownabbey, Co Antrim, and attempting to hit officers with projectiles.
Some rioters could be seen kicking police vehicles, although the demonstrators retreated after a water cannon was deployed by riot police.
Updated
Masked demonstrators are tearing bricks from properties and smashing paving stones with sledgehammers to create projectiles to throw at riot police.
Footage showed demonstrators kicking bricks off a property on Antrim Road in Newtownabbey, Co Antrim, and then throwing them at a line of police vehicles.
The balaclava-clad demonstrators could also be seen taking wheelie bins from outside homes and lighting fires in them.
Updated
Crowds remain at the Sandyknowes roundabout in Co Antrim while police issue warnings and a number of fires burn across the road at the major junction just north of Belfast.
There are intermittent attacks, with rocks and other masonry being thrown at police lines by the crowd. Officers responded by deploying water cannons.
On the other side of the roundabout, a vehicle for emptying gullies has been set alight in a Department for Infrastructure depot, which firefighters are dealing with.
Updated
Musk's X won't need to remove posts inciting violence for at least two months
Elon Musk’s X will face no action to remove a mass of posts inciting violence in Northern Ireland for at least two months – despite widespread condemnation of the platform and its billionaire owner, write Peter Walker, Hannah Al-Othman, Rory Carroll and Vikram Dodd.
Concern over the role social media played in spreading disturbing images and fuelling anger continued to grow on Wednesday as police and community leaders urged calm.
They feared a repeat of the violence that erupted on Tuesday evening, when crowds, including masked men, burned vehicles and houses, and blocked roads in and around Belfast.
Locals from ethnic minorities were targeted in what one Northern Ireland MP called “a race-based pogrom”.
Earlier, Musk rejected claims that he is to blame for inciting disorder in Belfast.
Keir Starmer vowed on Wednesday to crack down on anyone fuelling such divisions, and said there was no justification for the scenes of violence and disorder.
Ministers plan to amend the Online Safety Act to require social media firms to act more quickly to remove inflammatory content during riots or other crises, but this will not take effect until mid-July at the earliest.
In the meantime, the government will leave any official reprimand of X to Ofcom. The media regulator is awaiting a first quarterly report on compliance from X, but this is not due for at least two months.
Updated
Riot police are moving towards masked protesters who threw bricks at officers in confrontations north of Belfast.
Footage showed police vehicles, including a water cannon, advancing down Antrim Road in Newtownabbey, Co Antrim, while demonstrators, wearing balaclavas and face coverings, retreated.
The masked protesters could be seen gathering piles of bricks and throwing them at police.
The Police Service of Northern Ireland said officers have “deployed the water cannon” to maintain public order after missiles were thrown at police.
In a post on social media, the PSNI said: “Motorists advised to avoid the Sandyknowes Roundabout area of Newtownabbey due to ongoing disorder this evening.
“Crowds have gathered & missiles are being thrown at officers who have now deployed the water cannon in an attempt to maintain public order.”
Updated
A vehicle appears to have set alight in Belfast as riot police were deployed to deal with demonstrations on Wednesday night.
Smoke, visible on TrafficWatchNI cameras for the M2, could be seen billowing upwards near the Sandyknowes roundabout in Newtownabbey, which is about eight miles northwest of Belfast city centre.
Videos and posts shared on social media showed protesters attempting to march to the Chimney Corner Hotel, with riot police and several vans being deployed to manage the demonstrations.
On Wednesday night violence broke out on the outskirts of Glengormley, around six miles outside of Belfast city centre.
A group of around 300 people, mostly men in dark clothing and face coverings had gathered, reportedly to target a hotel housing migrants nearby.
Police moved in with water cannons to try to disperse protesters, who pelted their vans and riot shields with rocks. One young protester in a balaclava in the colours of the union flag repeatedly coming forward to take aim at police.
“Attention, attention, disperse immediately or water cannons will be used, no further warnings will be given,” blared from the police vehicles.
An older woman sat in a bus stop between the line or riot police and protesters, pulling up her hood to shield herself from the water. “She said she’s lived through the Troubles, she not going to move,” another woman said.
Aerial footage has captured police deploying a water cannon being used to disperse the crowd at Sandyknowes roundabout in Newtownabbey.
Protesters could be seen firing objects including bricks and letting off fireworks at officers before retreating.
Disorder reported by police in Derry
Disorder has been reported by police in Derry, the second-largest city in Northern Ireland.
In a second night of disturbances following a knife attack in north Belfast, police have issued advice for motorists to avoid the Ardmore Road at the Church Brae junction of the city due to items being set alight.
Meanwhile, crowds have reportedly gathered at the Sandyknowes roundabout in Co Antrim.
Updated
More than 100 people attended an anti-immigration protest at the front of Parliament Buildings in the Stormont estate in Belfast.
The protestors walked up the hill and gathered at the Edward Carson statue.
The crowd dispersed after the demonstration, which passed without incident.
Ministers in Northern Ireland’s powersharing government have released a joint statement condemning “disorder, violence and intimidation” in Belfast on Tuesday night.
The statement said: “Events on the streets here caused significant harm to communities, spread fear and risked innocent lives.
“No community benefits from these actions.
“The incident in north Belfast on Monday was deeply shocking.
“While we understand the strength of feeling about what happened, it is now subject to legal proceedings and justice must be allowed to run its course.”
It added: “Everyone has the right to protest peacefully.
“What we witnessed last night went far beyond that.
“Sadly, there are those intent on wreaking destruction on the very communities they claim they are trying to protect
“They are weaponising the genuine hurt, concern and anger that people are feeling for their own misguided purposes.”
A number of protesters dressed in black have been seen throwing projectiles at police in riot gear, Sky News reported.
Around 20 police vehicles have converged on an area of Belfast.
Police have used a water cannon to repel protesters.
Updated
Social media platform X is among those to have been contacted by the communications regulator about online content potentially linked to scenes of violence in Belfast.
Technology secretary Liz Kendall said she had explicitly asked Ofcom to discuss with the platforms how they will comply with the Online Safety Act.
It came as Keir Starmer vowed to “crack down on anyone who is fuelling this division” amid criticism of Elon Musk and social media’s role in the night of violence in the city.
The billionaire X owner, who used his online account to promote calls for people to take to the streets in response to Monday’s knife attack, hit back at accusations he was inflaming tensions and blamed immigration policy.
Communications regulator Ofcom said some of the disorder “appears to have been incited online”, adding: “This has included racially motivated incidents of violence, arson attacks on homes and vehicles, and attacks against police.”
The watchdog said it has contacted all major platforms “where we believe there are specific risks around the presence of illegal content relating to the civil unrest”.
Online service providers have duties under the UK’s Online Safety Act 2023 to “assess and mitigate the risks of illegal activity occurring on their sites and apps” – content which can include stirring up hatred or provoking violence.
Following the stabbing in Belfast, a government source said it will intensify Immigration Enforcement to track down, detain, arrest and remove illegal migrants in Northern Ireland.
The home secretary is investing £3.7 billion into Immigration Enforcement activity over the next 3 years including in Northern Ireland and investment into enforcement will increase by over 20% by 28/29.
The source added this will see a surge in Intelligence-led operations lead by Immigration Enforcement and Border Force along CTA routes to detect, track down, arrest and remove those staying illegally. Nearly 1,000 people residing illegally have been removed in the last year.
The number of asylum seekers in supported accommodation in Northern Ireland has decreased by 6% under this government, from 2,530 in June 2024 to 2,379 in March 2026.
Updated
The latest podcast has dropped and today’s edition is with our Ireland correspondent Rory Carroll on the Belfast unrest.
The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) has warned that social media users “highlighting properties” by posting addresses online or through apps are “putting lives at risk” and may be committing a criminal offence.
A spokesperson for the PSNI said: “We are aware that following recent disorder some social media users are posting address details online, or sharing these through communication apps. Highlighting properties in this way is totally unacceptable.
“We have received phone calls from a number of families, house owners, neighbours and members of the wider community who are extremely distressed as a result of this reckless activity. This is unacceptable. It is putting lives at risk and has to stop.
“Anyone who shares personal information online with the intention to endanger others may be committing a criminal offence.
“Any person who publishes or distributes material which is threatening or abusive may also be committing an offence.
“We will be investigating any such posts which come to our attention.”
The government confirmed an “electronic device” was found hidden in a government building, as it denied reports a tracking device had been put on a prime ministerial car.
Home Office minister Lord Hanson of Flint told peers that a device, which reports have suggested was a camera, was found in a routine check at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.
Peers raised concerns the device may have been placed near offices where discussions were held over the proposed Chinese “mega-embassy” that is planned for the City of London.
Lord Hanson said the device was found in a communal area rather than near ministerial offices. But members of the House of Lords raised fears it may have been where civil servants working on the application may have been.
The device was discovered in a ceiling panel, The i Paper reported.
For four hours, Ugandan care workers Sumayah Nakazibwe and Stella Ariokot were barricaded into their house near Crumlin Road in north Belfast, smelling smoke leaking into their homes, and watching flames lick the walls of neighbouring properties.
“It all started like people were just marching, young boys between the age of nine and 20,” Nakazibwe said. “They were all putting on black, and masked.”
They watched from their window as the mob burned the tyres of a bus. “And then they collected the bins outside and then started also burning them,” she said. “And then we were like, maybe it will not escalate.”
But then the mob turned on to their street, where Romanian and Nigerian families also live, alongside British and Irish families.
“They started burning, petrol-bombing, the cars,” she said. “So when the smoke started, it was just coming direct to our houses. So we called the police, we called the fire brigade.”
27 people made homeless last night in Belfast because rioters burning foreigners out of their homes, minister says
Ruth Anderson, a Cabinet Office minister in the Lords, has told peers that 27 people were made homeless in Northern Ireland “because people went door-to-door to try and target foreign nationals”. She said:
Twenty-seven people were made homeless last night because people went door-to-door to try and target foreign nationals to burn them out of their homes.
I can only imagine the terror.
A two-month-old is the youngest victim who had to be moved from her home and I don’t think any of us will ever be able to forget the image of a nine-year-old child and their family being put in the back of a Land Rover to be rescued from violent, racist thugs who were seeking to undermine them and to undermine their very sense of belonging in a country that many of them have lived in for decades.
This is simply unacceptable and will not be tolerated.
That is all from me for today. Nadeem Badshah is now taking over.
Updated
Burnham says he favours cap on political donations
Andy Burnham, the Greater Manchester mayor, Labour candidate for Makerfield and favourite to be next PM, has said that he favours a cap on the amount of money that can be given as a donation to a political party.
Campaigners have strongly criticised the government for not including a cap in its representation of the people bill that is going through the parliament, particularly given the rise in the number of billionaires giving huge sums to parties (normally Reform UK). Ministers have imposed a cap on the value of donations that can be given by people living abroad, but not a general cap.
As Josiah Mortimer reports in an article for Byline Times, Burnham said he was in favour of a cap in correspondencec with Shaun Bowler, founder of grassroots democracy campaign WakeUpGB.
Burnham told Bowler:
Yes, I do think there should be a cap on political donations. This would guard against the perception of any one party being unduly influenced or swayed by one person or organisation.
I am in complete agreement that there needs to be wholesale culture change in Westminster.
I would start with a higher cap but would definitely want to see that reduced over time … I do support the principle of caps.
Farage claims Reform UK has not dropped its support for PR, saying he would be 'open' to AV plus version
For many years Nigel Farage was an enthusiastic supporter of proportional representation (PR). Ukip, his former party, was committed to PR, and at the last election Reform UK promised PR for the Commons in its manifesto.
But, over the past year, Farage and his colleagues have gone very quiet on PR. This has coincided with Reform UK rising so much in the opinion polls that it has now reached the point where, under the current system (first past the post – or FPTP), it could win a parliamentary majority with around a third of the votes at a general election. Under PR, it would do worse.
At his press conference today, asked if he was still committed to PR, Farage said that he was “open” to one version of it – but he insisted that his priority was to improve the integrity of the whole system first.
After mentioning Commonwealth citizens being allowed to vote and “family voting” (see 4.55pm), Farage said that he would drastically restrict postal voting. Reform UK believes postal voting is open to fraud (as Donald Trump does in the US) and Farage said he would only allow it for people with “a very good reason” to have a postal vote, such as a severe disability.
But he did not rule out a move towards PR at some point. He said:
I have consistently since 2015 said that our voting system is rotten in places.
So I’m quite prepared to think about changing the House of Lords, quite prepared to think about whether an AV plus model that gave representation to small voices would be the right way forward. I’m open to all of that.
But first we have to fix the integrity of our electoral system.
AV (alternative vote) plus is the model of PR proposed by the commission set up by Tony Blair and chaired by Roy Jenkins, the former SDP leader. The commission reported in 1998 but Blair ignored the recommendation.
Liz Kendall says government will legislate to cut time given to social media companies to remove illegal material
Liz Kendall, the technology secretary, has said that the government will require social media companies to remove content inciting disorder more quickly at times of crisis.
In a post on X this afternoon, she said:
Those who use social media to incite violence and disorder are breaking the law.
Next week we will lay in Parliament an update to the Online Safety Act requiring services to take quicker action to remove illegal content circulating during times of crisis.
I have explicitly asked Ofcom to discuss urgently with X and other platforms how they will comply with the Online Safety Act.
This may have been what Keir Starmer had in mind when he told MPs at PMQs earlier that he would crack down on people fuelling division online. (See 12.30pm.)
But it remains to be seen how much difference the new initiative will make, given that campaigners regularly complain about social media firms ignoring the requirements they are already subject to about removing offensive or illegal material. And one of the social media users most criticised this week is not just a user of X, but Elon Musk, the man who owns and controls the whole platform.
Farage claims letting Commonwealth citizens vote in parliamentary elections 'doesn't work in age of mass migration'
Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader, has suggested that there is a case for stopping Commonwealth citizens being allowed to vote in parliamentary elections.
He made the argument when he was asked if he was concerned that Reform UK were “losing momentum” by a journalist who pointed out that Reform hoped to win the Gorton and Denton byelection earlier this year, but were beaten by the Greens.
Farage replied:
I’m absolutely convinced we won Gorton and Denton amongst British-born people. Absolutely convinced.
And I have to say, whilst Commonwealth voting might have worked in decades gone by, it doesn’t work in an age of mass migration.
So there were people in Gorton and Denton who came to Britain, were living in the Gorton area, who came as part of the Boriswave, who couldn’t speak English, but still had a vote in that byelection.
Farage also claimed that Reform lost out in Gorton and Denton in part because of the prevelance of so-called family voting – a person being followed into the polling booth by a relative intent on telling them how they should vote. Gorton and Denton has a large number of Muslim voters, and after the byelection was over Reform UK suggested that some Muslim women were voting Green on the orders of their husbands.
(Quite why Muslim women would have been so keen to vote instead for Reform UK, a party that polls badly among women and whose candidate was anti-immigrant, has never been explained by the party.)
Reform UK cited evidence produced by four election observers working for an organisation called Democracy Volunteers as proof this was a problem in the constituency. And Farage mentioned that today at his press conference.
But, after Greater Manchester police investigated these allegations, they concluded there was no evidence of crime being committed.
Jamie Bryson, a prominent unionist commentator in Northern Ireland, has posted on social media rejecting suggestions that loyalist paramilitary groups should be stepping in to stop the rioting in Belfast. He says:
Multiple times I’ve heard today: “the UVF and UDA need to intervene to end this”. Many of the same people saying this are the same people who demand loyalists ‘go away’. You can’t have it both ways.
Loyalists are transitioning, and part of that is not fulfilling a community policing role in terms of exercising coercive control, even if such control would be exercised for what would generally be agreed to be a positive outcome (such as quelling serious rioting).
This is what people wanted. Policing is for the PSNI and loyalists shouldn’t be expected to step in when it suits.
'So what?' - Farage defends Reform UK's Makerfield candidate over past offensive comments on social media
At his press conference Nigel Farage defended Robert Kenyon, his party’s candidate in the Makerfield byelection, over a slew of offensive past social media comments uncovered since the campaign started.
Farage said:
These comments were posted a decade ago. They’ve been taken wildly out of context, but they’re the sort of comments that you won’t necessarily get if you’re an Oxford-educated career politician living in a nice postcode in London.
But I tell you what, they are the kind of comments you’ll hear in every pub in the country every evening, and we should be unapologetic that Rob is an ordinary bloke who’s carved quite a career for himself, had the guts to set up a business, served as an army reservist, is a patriot, likes his rugby, likes the odd pint, and said a few laddish things on social media 10 years ago.
Do you know what I’d say to that? I’d say, so what?
Rayner says she 'won't rest' until Mahmood exempts care workers from proposed retrospective change to ILR rules
Alexandra Topping is a Guardian political correspondent.
Angela Rayner has hardened her position against Shabana Mahmood’s proposed immigration reforms, arguing that settled care workers should not face retrospective rule changes.
The former deputy leader of the Labour party, who has continued to be an influential figure on the backbenches, addressed a rally by Unison outside parliament in Westminster today, giving her backing to the union’s call for sector-wide visas for care workers to end “fear and exploitation”.
The UK’s largest union has mounted a campaign to help care workers who are tied to one employer because of their visa status, arguing that the current system - where care companies sponsor migrant care staff - allows unscrupulous bosses to abuse their power. “That fear is a weapon the worst bosses can wield,” said Rayner.
Last month an Indian man who came to the UK to work as a care worker through the post-Brexit visa scheme was awarded nearly £30,000 in a landmark case, because his employer failed to give him a single day of work for a year. An employment tribunal ordered the care company Swan Care Solutions Ltd to pay Shabin Shaji wages for the work he was “ready, able and willing to do”.
The Labour-affiliated Unison union have carried out a mass leafleting campaign in Mahmood’s Birmingham constituency to protest against a planned change in immigration policy, arguing that the changes will adversely affect migrant care workers. About one-third of all care workers and one-fifth of all NHS workers are migrants.
Addressing the union Rayner said that migrant care workers were “trapped in a system that does not protect them. And because it does not protect them, it does not protect us.”
Rayner has previously said it was “un-British” to move the goalposts on indefinite leave to remain (ILR), putting her at odds with the government’s key immigration proposal of increasing the standard qualifying period for permanent residence from five to 10 years. For care workers, the baseline would be 15 years.
In a move that will be seen to put more pressure on the home secretary, today she said there should be no retrospective rule changes to settlement for the care workers “who follow the rules and contribute to our society”, she said. She went on:
Care workers helped us through the darkest days of the pandemic. Care is a system we may all need, and rely upon. So I for one won’t rest until all those who give and receive care do so with the dignity and respect they deserve.
Updated
Musk rejects claim he is to blame for inciting disorder in Belfast
Elon Musk has rejected claims that he is to blame for inciting disorder in Belfast.
In a post on X, the platform he owns, Musk retweeted a post from Matt Goodwin, the Reform UK candidate at the recent Gorton and Denton byelection, saying:
It’s not social media that’s “inflaming tensions”.
It’s not Elon Musk.
It’s not Nigel Farage.
It’s not the ‘far-right’.
It is the very deliberate policy of mass uncontrolled immigration & open borders.
This policy has to end or it will destroy Western nations.
Musk added his own comment on Goodwin’s tweet, saying: “Exactly.”
Reform UK's deputy leader in Scotland criticised for encouraging further protests after Belfast stabbing
Severin Carrell is the Guardian’s Scotland editor.
Thomas Kerr, deputy leader of Reform UK in the Scottish parliament, has been accused of trying to “fan the flames” of the far-right protests in Glasgow and other cities by calling for fresh demonstrations today.
In an urgent question to Scottish justice secretary Neil Gray at Holyrood, the Scottish Labour MSP Paul Sweeney said Kerr also referred to “strangers” in Scotland and had “fanned the flames of division.”
Police Scotland said on Wednesday far-right protestors in Glasgow targeted people due to their skin colour, injuring three members of the people and two police officers. (See 2.01pm.)
Sweeney, who represents Glasgow region, said:
Does the cabinet secretary agree with me that every one of us in this parliament has a duty to calm tensions in this country and not inflame them, and to be reminded that their first duty is to their constituents and the people of Scotland, and not American neo-Nazis on social media.
Gray said he “fundamentally” agreed with Sweeney, and implied Kerr was guilty of causing “fear and alarm”; migrants consistently helped keep Scottish services like the police, health and social care services running, he said. He went on:
Our culture, the culture and fabric of our society would not be the same were it not for migration into this country. We should celebrate it. We should protect it and cherish it. And always, always stand up to those who would seek to divide, intimidate, cause fear and alarm, including in this parliament.
Kerr, also a Glasgow region MSP, confirmed to BBC Scotland he wanted protesters back out on the streets on Wednesday but said he disavowed violence, racism and vandalism. He said:
Go out and protest. Go out and make your voice heard. We have a fantastic tradition in this country of freedom of speech and freedom of expression. Go out there and make sure the government hears your voice, but do not vandalise, do not incite racism and do not show violence.
Because as soon as you do that, you play into the hands of John Swinney and of Keir Starmer, who do not want to speak about massive, uncontrolled illegal migration. They want to turn it on you, so do not play into their hands, go out and protest peacefully, make sure your voice is heard, but do not take to the streets like we seen last night.
Farage claims 'vast majority' of people on streets in Belfast last night were not extremists, just concerned people
Farage turns to the events in Belfast last night.
He says the attack on Monday night was barbarous.
There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that this man [the accused] should not have been in this country. It is just as simple as that. He entered the country illegally. and is any surprise that people in Belfast and elsewhere are scared?
He says that does not justify what happened in Belfast last night.
None of that justifies what was perpetrated by some bad actors last night. There’s no doubt about that. There were some very, very bad actors doing bad things.
But, Farage went on:
But the vast majority of those people who were out on the streets in Belfast last night were not far-right, were not extremists, just [people] really scared about what’s going on in their communities and about the lack of government action.
He also claimed the events in Belfast showed how “incredibly disconnected” politicians in Westminster were from ordinary people.
Farage says Reform UK would raise threshold for businesses to register for VAT from £90,000 to £150,000, at cost of £2bn
Farage has an announcement. He says Reform UK would increase the VAT threshold for businesses (the point at which they would have to register for VAT) from £90,000 to £150,000.
He says this would cost about £2bn. But it would be worth it, he says, because it would lead to “changes in behaviour by making people hungrier to take on more work, to employ more people, to grow their businesses”.
Nigel Farage is speaking at his press conference now.
He starts with a whinge about the audience for the BBC Question Time from Makerfield not being neutral.
Referring to the campaign, he claims that his party is gaining momentum.
Campaigning is hard for a party like his, he claims, because their supporters are people from “alarm clock Britain” – which means they are out at work when you go round.
(In fact, Reform UK gets most of its support proportionately from people who are retired.)
The Nigel Farage press conference was meant to start at 3pm, but we’re still waiting. My colleague Josh Halliday is there. He says several dozen Reform UK members have gathered in the car park of a pub in Stubshaw Cross for the event. It’s a short walk from Andy Burnham’s campaign headquarters, he says. Josh is describing it as relatively low key.
Minister agrees to investigate claim that young people in Northern Ireland being 'groomed' into rioting
During the Commons urgent question on the Belfast rioting, Karen Bradley, a Conservative former Northern Ireland secretary, said that some young people taking part in the rioting had been “groomed” by gangmasters “into committing violence day in, day out across Northern Ireland”. She said this was a version of modern slavery, and called for an inquiry.
Dan Jarvis, the security minister responding to the UQ, replied: “I absolutely give her that commitment that, working with colleagues in the Northern Ireland Office, we will do that.”
SDLP leader Claire Hanna criticises those calling for 'hardened border on island of Ireland'
Politicians calling for a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland are leaning into “people’s worst fears and anxieties,” Claire Hanna has said.
Hanna, the SDLP leader, made the comment in the Commons during an urgent question that she tabled on the violence in Belfast.
She said:
People are, of course, entitled to their views on immigration, and, of course, government policy is imperfect, but this hasn’t been a debate or a conversation.
There haven’t been proposals, there haven’t been honesty about the trade-offs, there has been mob justice, and some of the same old, same old proposals for a hardened border on the island of Ireland. Political leaders have a duty to lead, not to lean into people’s worst fears and anxieties.
That video of the awful crime in north Belfast was unusual in its brutality, but the cycle of deflection and disorder has not been unusual. We have seen this movie too many times before.
In Belfast, we know all about blaming an entire community for the actions of others, we know all about scapegoating, we know all about tit-for-tat violence, and we know all about street justice.”
Earlier, during PMQs, Gavin Robinson, the DUP leader, suggested that the “open, porous border” between Ireland and Northern Ireland should be closed. (See 12.35pm.)
Sundus Abdi is a Guardian reporter.
Northern Ireland’s children’s commissioner has said that recent scenes od disorder in Belfast are “robbing children of their right to live in safety”, saying the violence and intimidation are having a profound impact on young people.
Chris Quinn said: “No child should feel unsafe in their home or community, or fear because of who they are, where they come from, or how they are perceived.”
He urged parents and carers to speak to their children about “what is happening, to challenge racism, and to help children understand that violence and hatred are never acceptable.”
Quinn also voiced concern about those “orchestrating the violence”, saying “they are not operating with the best interests of Monday night’s victim in mind, nor of the young people they are seeking to involve in this violence.”
UN human rights chief says anti-migrant violence in Southampton and Belfast 'shocking', blaming social media 'incitement'
The UN human rights chief has described the anti-immigrant violence rocking Belfast and recent clashes with police in Southampton as “shocking”, criticising “incitement” on social media and elsewhere, AFP reports.
Volker Türk, the UN high commissioner for human rights, told reporters in Geneva:
Dehumanisation of whole groups within a society is totally unacceptable and is frankly despicable.
The violence that comes out as a result in ... both Northern Ireland and in Southampton were really shocking …
[Social media providers must] take the responsibility seriously that dehumanisation, hate speech, violence and incitement to violence is unacceptable.
We cannot tolerate this in today’s world ... The polarisation that we see is shocking.
Nigel Farage has announced that he will hold a press conference in Makerfield at 3pm, with the Reform UK candidate, Robert Kenyon. Perhaps Labour has shamed him into action. See 11.54am.
Here is a Guardian video of the main party leaders appealing for calm at PMQs today after last night’s riots in Belfast.
No 10 declines to say what Starmer meant by PMQs pledge to crack down on people like Musk fuelling division online
At the post-PMQs lobby briefing the PM’s spokesperson was asked what Keir Starmer meant at PMQS when he told Ed Davey that the government would crack down on “anyone who is fuelling this division” on social media. (See 12.30pm.) This was in response to a question about Elon Musk.
The spokesperson refused to give details about what a crackdown like this might involve, but he did say: “We’ve taken action before and we won’t hesitate to do that again.”
Here are more pictures from Belfast showing the damage caused by last night’s rioting.
Updated
A 39-year-old man has become the first to be charged over the Belfast riots, the Press Assocation reports. He was arrested in Newtownabbey last night and will appear before Belfast magistrates court today charged with riot.
Updated
Racist violence in Glasgow last night left five people, including two police officers, injured, Police Scotland says
Severin Carrell is the Guardian’s Scotland editor.
Police in Glasgow said that far-right protesters attacked people because of their skin colour on Tuesday night, leaving three members of public and two officers injured.
Police Scotland said they made three arrests of men aged 18, 18 and 31 in Glasgow, and policed disruptive but peaceful demonstrations in Edinburgh, Falkirk, Perth, Ayr and Paisley, where no arrests were made.
The violence was condemned earlier on Wednesday by first minister John Swinney, who said “racism, hatred and intimidation have no place in Scotland”, remarks echoed by Anas Sarwar, the Scottish Labour leader. (See 11.42pm.)
In a statement, Assistant Chief Constable Alan Waddell said:
We understand the concerns people have about their communities and will always balance the right to freedom of expression with the need to tackle crime without fear or favour.
Officers responded to disorder and violence, including incidents in Glasgow where members of the public were attacked because of the colour of their skin. Officers were also attacked.
I would strongly condemn that offending and send a clear message that there is no place for racism and violence in Scotland.
He said the force could also deploy Scottish officers and vehicles to Belfast if there was a request from the Police Service of Northern Ireland, under the UK’s mutual aid polices.
We have an appropriate policing plan in place, including strong links across UK policing to ensure we are prepared to deal with any escalation in disorder, and we will mobilise specialist resources if necessary.
As part of this, our officers will support National Police Coordination Centre mutual aid arrangements for colleagues at the Police Service of Northern Ireland, following careful consideration to our resourcing requirements to ensure there is no impact to policing in Scotland.
Updated
Micheál Martin, the taoiseach (Irish PM), has condemned the death threats made against the lord mayor of Belfast. (See 1pm.)
Speaking in the Irish parliament, Martin said:
Such threats are appalling and must be roundly condemned.
Unfortunately, it’s become an increasing phenomenon in this era that there are increasing numbers of threats to public representatives across the board, and to threaten the lord mayor in the context of yesterday and the day before is appalling, and has to be condemned.
Sinn Féin's president Mary Lou McDonald says Belfast rioting 'orchestrated by loyalist and far-right thugs'
Mary Lou McDonald, the Sinn Féin president, has said the “racist intimidation and violence” in Northern Ireland last night was “orchestrated by loyalist and far-right thugs”.
Speaking in the Irish parliament, McDonald said:
It was right that political leaders in the north came together to unequivocally condemn this attack and to call for the swift delivery of justice.
She then condemned the masked men and “organised mobs” who burned families out of their homes and said there were echoes of the pogroms on Bombay Street in Belfast in 1969. She said:
When we said that we would never allow anyone to be treated this way again we meant it, and we meant anyone, not Irish, not any community.
Nobody has the right to spread fear, to intimidate, to terrify innocent families, and we have a duty to communities to show political leadership to stand up for what is right.
These are the same people, by the way, who in July will burn Irish tricolours on the top of their bonfires — they need to be faced down, their organised racism needs to be faced down.
Hilary Benn says getting rid of common travel area not solution to illegal migration problems in Ireland
Hilary Benn, the Northern Ireland secretary, has defended the common travel area in the light of the controversy generated by the stabbing in Belfast on Monday night.
Hadi Alodid, who has been charged with attempted murder following the attack, was an asylum seeker who arrived in Belfast after crossing the open border between Ireland and Northern Ireland. Benn said it was important for Dublin and London to work together on tackling illegal migration between the two countries.
But, speaking at a press conference alongside the PSNI chief constable Jon Boutcher, Benn said that getting rid of the common travel area was not the solution. He said:
We don’t know the full circumstances, but we saw the horrific consequences in the video, the horrific video that was shared online, and which has caused such outrage and such public concern and, of course, we must reflect on the circumstances, and we must continue to carry on with that strong co-operation between the UK authorities and the Irish authorities in seeking to deal with illegal migration across the common travel area.
But the answer is not to say the common travel area is the problem which has given great benefit to many, many people over very long period of time.
Benn said there was “already close co-operation between the Border Force, the PSNI, the Gardaí and the authorities in Ireland in trying to tackle illegal migration”.
At PMQs earlier Gavin Robinson, the DUP leader, suggested that the “open, porous border” between Ireland and Northern Ireland should be closed. (See 12.35pm.)
At the press conference, asked if he was concerned about the accused, an asylum seeker from Sudan, being granted leave to remain three years ago, Benn replied:
It doesn’t necessarily follow that someone’s previous history is going to enable you to know whether they might do something in the future, and therefore it’s very hard to see how you can operate a system in those circumstances which attempts to anticipate what somebody might do.
PSNI ready to deploy another 200 officers to quell disorder in Northern Ireland, chief constable says
Vikram Dodd is the Guardian’s police and crime correspondent.
The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) is ready to deploy another 200 officers to tackle further disorder, its chief constable, Jon Boutcher, has said.
Speaking at a press conference this morning, Boutcher said:
We will deal with this. We will be on the streets tonight in numbers even more than we were last night, and we have got arrangements in hand to get mutual aid that will be arriving here tomorrow.
We’re looking to get a further some 200 officers to get on the streets to deal with this.
Boutcher said that two PSNI officers were injured last night.
We had one officer who was injured yesterday whilst directing traffic away from one of the pockets of disorder, and he was hit with debris on the head. He’s okay.
The second officer suffered smoke inhalation when a petrol bomb exploded near him and went under his snood, and had to be taken to hospital.
And people who had to be rescued as their homes were attacked were not injured, Boutcher said.
Thankfully, last night, with regards to people we evacuated from those houses, there were no injuries.
Our absolute focus yesterday was to protect life and property, and that’s what we achieved.
Boutcher said the force would be “going after” those responsible for the disorder last night.
But he also stressed that, while the PSNI was ready to deploy more officers to quell the disorder, this would leave “huge gaps” in other areas of policing.
The officers out on the street last night, and who’ll be out there tonight, are from our crime teams, they’re from investigations into terrorist cases, they’re from our domestic abuse teams,” he said.
“This has to be the entire organisation coming together to deal with issues like this, and we will, and we will identify and prosecute those responsible, but the organisation deserves and needs to be supported.
Updated
Róis-Máire Donnelly, the Sinn Féin lord mayor of Belfast, says she received death threats amid the disorder in the city last night.
In a statement she said:
Last night, Tuesday 9th June, I was visited at home by the PSNI [Police Service of Northern Ireland].
The police informed me that threats had been made against my life and advised me to take extra precautions regarding my personal security.
I want to make it clear that these threats will not deter me from fulfilling my role as mayor of this great city.
Family of Belfast knife attack victim appeal for calm, in statement stressing 'valuable contribution' migrants make
The family of the victim in the Belfast knife attack have issued a statement via Phillip Brett, a DUP member of the legislative assembly.
They ask for privacy and say they are “completely devastated by the horrific attack on our loved one”.
They praise those who came to their relative’s aid, saying:
We want to say a profound thank you to the local people who bravely stepped in during the attack. Your quick actions absolutely saved his life, and we will never forget what you did for him in that moment. We also want to thank the emergency services and the doctors and nurses looking after him.
And they urge those angered by the attack to refrain from violence, saying:
We are aware of the tensions and talk of protests following this incident. We want to make it absolutely clear that overnight unrest is not welcome, and peaceful protest is the only way forward.
We have many migrants who make a deeply valuable contribution to our country, including in our healthcare system and hospitality sector and we depend on them to make our country work. We do not want this terrible tragedy to be used to divide people or fuel hostility.
Brett has posted the family’s statement on Facebook.
Updated
Richard Tice, the Reform UK deputy leader, said Starmer should resign.
He said the PM was in denial about the anger people felt about illegal immigration.
This prime minister is in denial of the rising despair across the country over his failure to stop the boats and related criminality.
His failure to recognise two-tier policing, his failures over Mandelson, his failures over the scourge of anti-Semitism. He’s lost the confidence of the country, his own trade union members and his own very quiet backbenchers.
When will he do the right thing and … resign?
Starmer said that Reform UK were trying to exploit the Henry Nowak case last week, and now they were trying to exploite the Belfast disorder.
They try to whip up fear and division. That’s all they’ve got.
He said Reform UK voted against Labour legislation to stop the boats.
And he claimed Tice had still not answered questions about why his company was involved in aggressive tax avoidance.
Ayoub Khan (Ind) asked Starmer to condemn MPs who “seek division to further their political ambitions”. He went on:
Individuals … are fuelling hate against citizens of our own nation and causing hardworking, upstanding people to be afraid for their safety because of the colour of their skin.
Starmer said the fear felt by some communties was “very real”, and that is why the violence should be condemned.
DUP leader Gavin Robinson condemns 'medieval' attack and says 'open, porous border' should be closed
Gavin Robinson, the DUP leader, said the knife attack in Belfast on Monday night was “medieval”. He condemned the disorder in Belfast last night. But he said people were right to be concerned about the asylum system, and he said the accused had passed thorough two safe countries before arriving in Belfast.
Starmer thanks Robinson for appealing for calm in this situation. And he said he was glad that he would he having a meeting with Robinson after PMQs to discuss this further.
UPDATE: Robinson said:
The north Belfast attack on Monday was medieval, it was sadistic and it’s sadly been viewed by millions in this country.
As reprehensible as it was, the outrageous violence, intimidation and community damage carried out last night in my constituency, and in other parts of Northern Ireland, require the strongest condemnation.
It is impossible to share concerns about damage to our British values and then act in a way that tarnishes the very thing we should want to protect.
Will [the PM] meet with me urgently to discuss the steps he and his government will take to ensure our values are enforced, that the rule of law in this country sustains and that he protects and closes the open, porous border between our country and the Irish Republic?
Updated
Starmer says government will crack down on people 'fuelling division', after Ed Davey condemns Musk over X posts
Ed Davey, the Lib Dem leader, asked Starmer to rule out cuts to the health budget to fund extra investment in the armed forces.
Starmer said he was running the CPS when the Lib Dems were in coalition, and he says he won’t take lectures from them on austerity.
Davey condemned Elon Musk for his posts on X encouraging disorder in Northern Ireland, and he said these platforms were not free speech “if it is controlled by tech billionaires”. He called for a crackdown.
Starmer said the government would crack down on people spreading division.
UPDATE: Davey said:
Turning to those horrific scenes in Belfast – too many times we see the same pattern, an appalling crime that makes us all feel immense pain and anger, and then extremists who exploit that grief and anger to spread hatred and violence, aided and abetted by social media barons like Elon Musk and their divisive algorithms.
Does the prime minister agree this is not who we are as a country, and that it is not free speech if it is controlled by tech billionaires and their algorithms?
So, will he crack down properly on platforms like X that are fuelling violence and hatred?
And Starmer replied:
We will crack down on anyone who is fuelling this division.
Updated
Badenoch claimed Starmer was too weak to cut benefits spending.
He is scrabbling around for a legacy, but isn’t it the case that the real legacy will be a bloated welfare state and the weaker armed forces?
Starmer said that when the Tories were in office, they did not reform welfare or invest in the armed forces.
He went on:
Every week [Badenoch] reminds us why the British public [voted the Tories out]. She knows that we’re turning the country around. Growth is up. She doesn’t want to talk about that. Interest rates are down. She doesn’t want to talk about that. Immigration is down, after she’d cheerlead for it to go up. And the NHS waiting lists of coming down for fastest rate for 17 years. I’m going to keep fighting for the people who elected a Labour government and sent us here two years ago.
Badenoch said Starmer did not rule out tax rises.
The reason the prime minister is in business is because he maxed out on spending in his first two budgets. That’s why the benefits bill is set to rise to about £200bn by the end of the decade.
He has things go wrong way round. He has a benefits plan until 2030, but no defence investment plan.
Starmer defended his defence record.
We are not going to take lectures on defence from the party opposite after what they did to the armed forces.
Nor are we going to take lectures on the economy, which they crashed and we’ve had to pick up.
Starmer avoids question about higher defence spending will be funded
Badenoch mocked Starmer about not having authority.
He is the prime minister now. At least I think he is. Should I be calling Andy Burnham instead to ask these questions?
So he is the Prime Minister, and the reason that he’s dithering was because he doesn’t know where the money is coming from. The military is waiting. The bond markets are watching. He has only three options.
Starmer could cut spending, borrow more, or put up taxes, she said.
We know the chancellor wants to put up tax to pay for it. Will the prime minister rule out raising taxes?
Starmer did not answer the question, but he attacked the Tories’ record.
Can I remind the House when they left office, 47 out of 49 major defence contracts were delayed or over budget. That is what we are fixing. You can’t just scrub away and forget.
I know they want to forget the last 14 years in power … That’s why they’re sitting over there.
Badenoch claimed there was “total paralysis” in govenrment over defence spending.
Starmer repeated his point about defence spending going up.
Badenoch asked if the PM was commited to investing £28bn in the defence investment plan. It has been reported that the PM won’t give the military chiefs all they are asking for.
Starmer said the government was “working through the details to make sure that we get this right”.
He said defence spending had gone up to 2.6% of GDP.
Under the last govenrment, it fell, he said.
And we’ve also given our armed forces the biggest pay rise in over 20 years. That’s Labour making investment to safeguard our national security.
Kemi Badenoch started by saying people had a right to be angry about the Belfast knife attack. She asked what the government was doing to keep people safe. And she asked when the defence investment plan (DIP) would be published.
Starmer said the DIP would be published before the Nato conference next month.
Melanie Ward (Lab) said 32 British charities are funelling money to Israeli settlements on occupied Palestinian land. She asked what the government would do to stop that.
Starmer said the government would look at strengthening sanctions. He went on:
British businesses should have no economic involvement in illegal settlements.
And let me just say, the situation across Palestine remains desperate, and the UK will continue to lead efforts to prevent human suffering and get aid in and preserve the viability of a two state solution.
Starmer says violence in Belfast 'totally unjustified'
Keir Starmer starts by paying tribute to the three people killed in the Royal Navy helicopter crash last week.
And he pays tribute to a former No 10 driver who has died.
Turning to Belfast, he says people are sickened by the attack.
People are rightly sickened by the horrific attack on Monday night in north Belfast.
As you have just said, the man arrested has been in court in Belfast this morning and charged.
I want to thank the Police Service of Northern Ireland and other first responders and members of the public who responded with such bravery. And our thoughts are with the victim.
But let me be clear, the acts of violence and arson that followed are totally unjustified.
This morning I spoke with the first minister, the deputy first minister and the chief constable and the secretary of state for Northern Ireland is meeting leaders in Belfast today.
We are united in calling for calm.
He ends urging people to support the police.
Lindsay Hoyle, the speaker, tells MPs that charges have been brought in relation to the Belfast stabbing, and so the case is sub judice. He asks MPs not to discuss the details of this case. And he says charges may be brought in relation to the rioting last night.
Starmer faces Badenoch at PMQs
PMQs is about to start.
Here is the list of MPs down to ask a question.
Labour rejects Tice's explanation as to why Farage avoiding holding press conferences
At one point earlier this year Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader, seemed to be holding press conferences every week. But, as the Labour party points out, he has now gone 50 days without holding one. When he has taken questions from journalists, he has often ended up sounding tetchy and evasive in response to queries about his undisclosed £5m gift from Christopher Harborne and how he paid for his £1.4m house.
At the Reform UK news conference this morning, my colleague Rowena Mason asked Richard Tice, the party’s deputy leader, asked why Farage has given up holding press conferences.
In response, Tice joked about Farage used to do so many “you got bored of them”, and he claimed the party wanted to show it was not a one-man band.
Labour has posted a clip of Tice’s reply on social media, with this comment.
Richard Tice’s smirk at the end of this answer says it all.
Not even he believes his excuse for @Nigel_Farage not giving a press conference in the last 50 days.
We all know there are (£)5 million reasons why he hasn’t...
John Swinney and other Scottish party leader condemn racist disorder in Glasgow
Severin Carrell is the Guardian’s Scotland editor.
Scottish political leaders have angrily condemned the “racism, hatred and intimidation” seen in Glasgow last night (see 9.51am), with Ross Greer, co-leader of the Scottish Greens, describing the protestors as “scumbags”.
John Swinney, the first minister, posted on X the scenes on Buchanan Street, which included apparent assaults and abuse of two black men, and in Edinburgh and Ayr were “unacceptable”.
He said:
Scotland is a welcoming nation and those who choose to make their lives here are valued members of our communities. Racism, hatred and intimidation have no place in Scotland. We must stand against it.
Greer, speaking on BBC Radio Scotland, said:
From what I heard from people in Glasgow yesterday, you had grown men walking down Buchanan Street screaming at anyone who wasn’t white, including children who were not white, screaming at them, ‘send them home’.
Anas Sarwar, the Scottish Labour leader, who has repeatedly encountered racist and nativist abuse, said:
The attack in Belfast was shocking and those responsible must face the full force of the law.
People have the right to raise legitimate concerns, but violence, racism and disorder have no place in Scotland and only serve to divide our communities. We are strongest when we stand together.
Here is more video from the rioting in Belfast last night.
There will be two urgent questions in the Commons after PMQs.
After 12.30pm, a Home Office minister will respond to an urgent question from Claire Hanna, the SDLP MP, about the rioting in Belfast.
And, after that, a defence minister will respond to a UQ from James Cartlidge, the shadow defence secretary, about the defence investment plan.
Judge warns anyone taking part in further disorder in Belfast should 'expect to go to prison'
A Belfast judge has warned that anyone who plans to take part in further disorder in Northern Ireland should “be prepared to go to prison” and said the courts “won’t tolerate” any attacks on emergency services, the Press Association reports. PA says:
After refusing bail for a man charged with attempted murder in a stabbing incident preceding riots and violence in Belfast, judge Stephen Keown commended the emergency services who came to the aid of the victim.
Speaking at Belfast magistrates’ court this morning, he said that the court’s thoughts were with the victim, the members of the public who intervened and the emergency services who went to the victims’ aid.
He said those members of the public, the police and the emergency services should be commended.
He said that emergency services who had helped the victim now coming “under attack is something the courts won’t tolerate”.
He noted that there is a call on social media for men aged over 18 to close streets, wear dark clothes and to be prepared to fight and be arrested.
He said that anyone involved in attacks on the community and members of the community can “also expect to go to prison, and that message should be sent out loud and clear”.
Police 'strongly' opposed to bail for Belfast knife suspect, court told
A detective told Belfast magistrates’ court today that Stephen Ogilvie, the man injured in the stabbing attack on Monday, had lost his left eye, the Press Association reports. PA says:
She also told the court that the defendant said “I’ve killed someone, I don’t know if they are dead” while in hospital receiving treatment for a hand injury and told medical staff “I will kill you”.
The detective told the court that at 10.30pm on Monday police received report of a serious assault in the Kinnaird Avenue area. She said they found the defendant armed with a knife at the scene and removed him from on top of the victim.
She said the victim has lost his left eye, and has deep cuts to his head, face and back.
As PA reports, the detective also said the police were opposing bail because there was a fear it would lead to “significant public disorder” if the accused, Hadi Alodid, was released due to “strong public feeling” about the incident. PA says:
Police said they “strongly” opposed bail on the grounds that Alodid is charged with an “extremely serious offence” that has “garnered serious media attention”.
The detective said if further offences were committed they would be “serious and unpredictable in nature”, and said the applicant is from Sudan and has links outside of the jurisdiction.
She also told the court he may fear for his own safety or fear a possible long custodial sentence.
The defendant made no reply.
District judge Stephen Keown said the risks were “far too great” and would be “unmanageable by any bail conditions”, and refused bail due to the risk of reoffending, risk of harm to the public, risk of public disorder and risk of flight.
He is next due to appear in court in four weeks’ time.
Belfast knife attack suspect remanded in custody for four weeks
Hadi Alodid has been remanded in custody at Belfast magistrates’ court for four weeks after being charged with the attempted stabbing murder of Stephen Ogilvie, threats to kill an NHS radiographer and possession of a knife, the Press Association reports.
Tice rejects as 'outrageous' suggestion that Farage's 'pure cold rage' statement may have encouraged rioting
At his press conference, Richard Tice, the Reform UK deputy leader, condemned the violence in Belfast last night as “utterly unacceptable”. He said:
Lawful protest is of course something that is a vital part of a democracy, but everybody has to understand that there is a huge difference between expressing one’s concern for what is going on lawfully, peacefully, respectfully, and violence, criminal activities, sort of the fires we saw last night, damage to public property – totally and utterly unacceptable.
But, in response to a subsequent question, Tice got angry when asked by a Channel 4 News reporter if the rioting in Belfast last night may have been related to Nigel Farage urging people to react last week with “pure cold rage” to the murder of Henry Nowak.
Tice said that claim was “absolutely ridiculous” and “outrageous”. When the reporter tried to press on with his question, Tice said that he had given his answer and that it had been “a revolting accusation to make”. He added: “And you should be ashamed of yourself.”
Farage made his statement on Tuesday morning last week. That night a protest in Southampton culminated in violence.
Court told victim in Belfast knife attack lost his left eye, as suspect named as Hadi Alodid
Hadi Alodid refused legal representation and made no reply to charges which were put put to him through an Arabic interpreter as he appeared in court charged with attempted murder following the Belfast knife attack, the Press Association reports.
The 30-year-old, with an address at Duncairn Avenue in Belfast, appeared before the city’s magistrates’ court on Wednesday morning.
He is charged with the attempted murder of Stephen Ogilvie on Monday, with threatening to kill an NHS radiographer on the same day and with the possession of a knife.
He appeared in court via videolink and made no reply to the charges when they were put to him through the interpreter.
The victim of the stabbing lost his left eye in the attack, the court was told.
Updated
Richard Tice defends Braverman and Jenrick over complaints they were at Home Office when Belfast suspect got leave to remain
At the Reform UK press conference, the first question came from a GB News reporter who said that Suella Braverman, Reform’s education spokesperson, was home secretary when the Belfast knife attack suspect was granted leave to remain in the UK, and Robert Jenrick, Reform’s Treasury spokesperson, was an immigration minister. The reporter asked why people with a record like that could be trusted on immigration.
This is a line that is being used by Rupert Lowe, the Restore Britain leader. Lowe was elected as a Reform UK MP, but he left after a row with Nigel Farage and his party, which is even more extreme than Farage’s on immigration, is challenging Reform in the Makerfield byelection where it is splitting the rightwing vote in a way that could cost Reform the seat.
In response, Richard Tice, Reform UK’s deputy leader, said that Braverman and Jenrick could be trusted on this issue because “they had the courage to fight for what they believed in”. Braverman was ultimately sacked because of her political views, and Jenrick resigned, he said. “So they actually showed themselves to be politicians of conviction, of courage,” he claimed.
Starmer condemns Belfast disorder, and "those who encouraged it online"
Keir Starmer has issued a statement about the rioting in Belfast last night. He says people were targeted because of their background (he means race – but doesn’t say so explicitly), and says the government won’t tolerate this.
He also condemns those who “encouraged” the disorder online. This seems like a clear reference to Elon Musk – although the PM does not refer to him by name.
He says:
The scenes in Belfast last night were shocking and completely unacceptable.
There is no justification for the violence and disorder that we saw threatening our communities, nor for those who encouraged it, online or elsewhere.
It is clear that people were targeted last night because of their background and I will not tolerate it. Those responsible will feel the full force of the law.
I’ve spoken to the chief constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland to convey my thanks to them and the frontline emergency services for their bravery in keeping people safe. I’ve also spoken to the first minister and deputy first minister to discuss the ongoing situation.
Appealing for calm must be the priority, and that is what I urge now. We must let the police get on with their work.
Richard Tice, the Reform UK deputy leader, is holding a press conference. He is speaking about fly tipping, which he says has become a “national disgrace”. He is announcing proposals for tougher laws to deal with the problem, and says his part will organise a “national action day” day on 4 July when activists will organise clean-ups.
Severin Carrell is the Guardian’s Scotland editor.
Police in central Glasgow threw up cordons last night to prevent several hundred largely masked anti-migrant protestors from moving through the city centre, as other agitators gathered in central Edinburgh and Ayr.
Footage on social media appeared to show an abusive attack on two black men on Buchanan Street in Glasgow, as a large group, some carrying union flags, marched down towards the St Enoch shopping centre. The police blocked then roads leading into the city centre and on a bridge south over the Clyde.
A large group also gathered on Princes Street and in St Andrews Square in Edinburgh, brandishing saltires and lighting blue flares, and reportedly in Ayr. No arrests have yet been reported by police.
In a social media post, the Glasgow branch of Stand up to Racism said:
Masked-up racist thugs have assembled at Buchanan steps and marched down the street. The livestream by one of their supporters shows marchers stealing a bike from a delivery driver and beating up passers-by.
Glaswegians of all backgrounds and and of all faiths and none will stand together against any attempts to spread violence and hatred in our communities. Time and again we have shown the far right a majority of us reject their poison.
Disorder stoked by those who would have 'struggled to find Belfast on map’, says NI justice minister Naomi Long
Naomi Long, the minister of justice of Northern Ireland and leader of the Alliance party, has said that last night’s rioting was fuelled by people online who “would have struggled to find Belfast on a map”. Jamie Grierson has the story.
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PSNI chief constable defends releasing information about suspect's nationality
Jon Boutcher, the chief constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland, has defended his force’s decision to tell the public yesterday that the man arrested for the Belfast knife attack on Monday night was Sudanese.
In an interview on the BBC’s Good Morning Ulster, he said:
We have learned that if we don’t give information, then online misinformation and lies lead to people believing things that aren’t true and start to mindlessly conduct attacks – and that was what happened at Southport not that long ago.
Asked about the force originally suggesting the suspect was from Somalia, Boutcher said:
We said we ‘believe’ that because that was the information that we were given after the incident occurred and we’re always going to get more detailed information as time passes by.
I was pushing very directly with the Home Office to give us the information that we required so that we could comply with the lessons learned previously.
Here is our report by Hannah Al-Othman and Rory Carroll on the rioting in Belfast last night.
And here is Guardian video of a bus being set on fire.
Labour chair Anna Turley says Elon Musk's interventions encouraging unrest in Belfast have been 'appalling'
Anna Turley, the Labour party chair, said that what Elon Musk had done in trying to stir up unrest in the UK after the Belfast knife attack was “appalling”.
In an interview on LBC, asked how the government viewed Musk’s actions and how he was trying to “whip up unrest”, she replied:
I think it’s appalling. Anyone that is seeking to drive and exploit a situation like this to drive their own political agenda is grievously wrong and doing damage.
He’s not someone who’s having to live in a community where the consequences of this, of the anger that is whipped up, [are felt].
We’ve seen children, families having to flee their homes on the streets of Belfast last night.
We do not want to see this kind of disruption, damage, thuggery, violence on our streets, and anyone that is seeking to whip that up should be condemned.
Asked if the government should boycott X, Musk’s social media platform, in response, Turley said:
I think about that all the time.
I think that there are lots of concerns about X. I personally find it a really positive way to engage with some of my constituents, but there’s no doubt that there are some really deeply worrying messages being conveyed through social media.
We are concerned about the use of disinformation in our democracy. These are things that I know the government is taking very seriously in looking at.
Man to appear in court over Belfast knife attack as rioting described as ‘race-based pogrom’ by SDLP leader
Good morning. Soon after becoming PM in 2024, Keir Starmer had to deal with a period of rioting in England, prompted by the Southport murders and mostly targeted at asylum seekers. Last night, in Northern Ireland, there were similar race riots, triggered by a knife attack involving a Sudanese suspect. Here is our overnight story about the rioting.
And this is what Claire Hanna, the SDLP leader and MP for Belfast South and Mid Down, said about the attacks on Newsnight last night.
What you’re seeing is a race-based pogrom. We are seeing men going door to door asking to get the foreigners out based exclusively on the colour of their skin. It’s not based on what they’re contributing to society, what their status here is and it’s terrifying for people in Belfast who want this sort of politics to be far beyond them.
Starmer is taking PMQs at noon and the Belfast disorder is likely to be the main talking point.
There are two issues that Starmer will be expected to address.
1) What is he going to do about the common travel area asylum “loophole”? The Belfast knife attack suspect was an asylum seeker who had been granted leave to remain in the UK three years ago, but he did not arrive on a small boat. He arrived in Belfast from Dublin, having flown to Ireland from Paris, and then – because of the common travel area – he was able to cross the border into Northern Ireland without facing any checks. Starmer is under pressure to close this “loophole”, as the Telegraph calls it, although a version of the common travel area has been in force for more than a century and so it has hard to see how it can be closed without colossal upheaval.
2) What is he going to do about rightwingers using social media to incite people in Northern Ireland to riot? Elon Musk, the billionaire owner of X, played a key role last night in amplifying calls for protests after the Belfast knife attack. He has been at it again overnight. Again, it is not obvious what Starmer can do about this, but he is bound to be asked whether this is tolerable.
Anna Turley, the Labour party chair and Cabinet Office minister, has been giving interviews this morning. Speaking to Sky News, she said the common travel area should not be used as “a back route for people to come here and exploit our asylum system”. She also said “conversations are happening” in government about what could be done to stop this.
She said:
If people are exploiting the common travel agreement in this way, that’s not acceptable. That’s not what it’s there for.
It’s been in existence for over 100 years and it’s absolutely right that people can travel between the island and Northern Ireland freely.
But it’s really important we make sure that we have a fair system that is led by data and intelligence, and we make sure that people are not able to exploit the asylum system.
Here is the agenda for the day.
9.15am: Sarah Jones, the policing minister, speaks at the launch of the new national policing AI centre PoliceAI.
10am: Richard Tice, the Reform UK deputy leader, holds a press conference, which is meant to be about the party’s plans to deal with fly-tipping.
Morning: A man will appear at Belfast magistrates’ court charged with attempted murder after the knife attack on Monday night.
Morning: Hilary Benn, the Northern Ireland secretary, is in Belfast meeting the chief constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland, Jon Boutcher.
11am: Jim Mackey, the NHS England chief executive, speaks at the NHS ConfedExpo 2026 in Manchester.
Noon: Keir Starmer faces Kemi Badenoch at PMQs
5pm: John Healey, the defence secretary, and Yvette Cooper, the foreign secretary, are due to speak at press conference in London with their Australian counterparts, after the annual UK-Australia defence/security summit.
I’m afraid comments won’t be open this morning because we are focusing on a story where criminal proceedings are live, which creates a contempt of court risk.
If you want to flag something up urgently to me, it is best to use social media. You can reach me on Bluesky at @andrewsparrowgdn.bsky.social. The Guardian has given up posting from its official accounts on X, but individual Guardian journalists are there, I still have my account, and if you message me there at @AndrewSparrow, I will see it and respond if necessary.
I find it very helpful when readers point out mistakes, even minor typos. No error is too small to correct. And I find your questions very interesting too. I can’t promise to reply to them all, but I will try to reply to as many as I can, either BTL or sometimes in the blog.
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