Man to appear in court over Belfast knife attack as rioting described as ‘race-based pogrom’ by SDLP leader – UK politics live | Politics

Anna TurleyThe Labor Party leader said what Elon Musk did as he tried to create unrest in the UK following the stabbing attack in Belfast was “appalling”.

When asked in an interview on LBC how the government viewed Musk’s actions and how he was trying to “incite unrest”, he replied:

I think this is terrible. Anyone who tries to manipulate and exploit such a situation to drive their own political agenda is seriously mistaken and doing harm.

He’s not someone who has to live in a community where this, the consequences of whiplash anger, will come to light. [are felt].

Last night we saw children and families who had to flee their homes on the streets of Belfast.

We do not want to see this kind of chaos, damage, banditry and violence on our streets, and anyone who tries to incite this should be condemned.

When asked whether the government should boycott Musk’s social media platform X, Turley said:

I think about this all the time.

I think there are a lot of concerns about X. I personally see this as a really positive way of engaging with some of my constituents, but there’s no doubt that some really deeply worrying messages are being conveyed through social media.

We are concerned about the use of disinformation in our democracy. These are things that I know the government takes very seriously.

Good morning. Shortly after becoming Prime Minister in 2024, Keir Starmer He had to deal with a period of rebellion in England sparked by the Southport murders, mostly targeting asylum seekers. Similar race riots took place in Northern Ireland last night, triggered by a knife attack involving a Sudanese suspect. Here’s our one-night story about the rebellion.

And what is this? Claire HannaThe SDLP leader and MP for Belfast South and Mid Down said about the attacks on Newsnight last night.

What you are seeing is a race-based pogrom. We see men going door to door trying to take strangers out just based on their skin color. It doesn’t depend on what they contribute to society, what their status is in it, and it’s appalling to people in Belfast who want such policies to be way beyond them.

Starmer is taking PMQ at lunchtime and the Belfast disorder is likely to be the main topic of conversation.

There are two issues that Starmer is expected to address.

1) What will the common travel area do about the asylum “gap”? The Belfast stabbing suspect was an asylum seeker who was given permission to stay in the UK three years ago but did not arrive on a small boat. He flew from Paris to Ireland, arrived from Dublin to Belfast and then – thanks to the common travel area – managed to cross the border into Northern Ireland without encountering any controls. Starmer under pressure to close this ‘gap’ The Telegraph says soAlthough some version of the shared travel space has been in place for more than a century, it is difficult to see how it could be shut down without a massive uprising.

2) What will he do about right-wingers using social media to incite people to riot in Northern Ireland? X’s billionaire owner Elon Musk played a key role in amplifying calls for protests following last night’s stabbing attack in Belfast. it happened again in one night. Again, it is unclear what Starmer can do about this, but he will be asked whether this is acceptable.

Anna TurleyThe Labor leader and Cabinet minister are giving interviews this morning. Speaking to Sky News, he said the common travel area should not be used as “a backroad for people to come here and exploit our asylum system”. He also said “discussions are ongoing” within the government about what could be done to stop this.

He said:

If people are exploiting the shared travel agreement in this way it is unacceptable. That’s not why it’s there.

It has been around for over 100 years and it is absolutely right that people can travel freely between the island and Northern Ireland.

But it’s really important that we make sure we have a fair system, driven by data and intelligence, and that people can’t abuse the asylum system.

Here is the agenda of the day.

9.15: Police minister Sarah Jones speaks at the launch of the new national police artificial intelligence centre, PoliceAI.

10am: Richard Tice, deputy leader of Reform England, held a press conference that was supposed to be about the party’s plans to deal with the fringe overthrow.

Morning: A man will appear in Belfast magistrates’ court charged with attempted murder following a knife attack on Monday night.

Morning: Northern Ireland secretary Hilary Benn meets Chief Constable Jon Boutcher of the Police Service of Northern Ireland in Belfast.

11am: NHS England chief executive Jim Mackey speaks at NHS ConfedExpo 2026 in Manchester.

Afternoon: Keir Starmer faces Kemi Badenoch at PMQs

17:00: Defense minister John Healey and foreign secretary Yvette Cooper will speak at a press conference alongside their Australian counterparts in London following the annual UK-Australia defence/security summit.

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