North Belfast: Violent Attack

Wednesday 10th June 2026 Lords Chamber

Commons Urgent Question

16:09

The following Answer to an Urgent Question was given in the House of Commons on Tuesday 9 June.

“I am grateful to the right honourable gentleman for his Question. Shortly after 10.30 pm last night, a man in his 40s was subjected to a horrific, sustained knife attack on a street in north Belfast. He is in hospital in a serious condition, having suffered very severe injuries. I know the thoughts of the whole House will be with him and his loved ones at what must be a time of unimaginable distress. The response from the Police Service of Northern Ireland was immediate. A man in his 30s was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder. He remains in police custody, and the PSNI is continuing to investigate. It has declared this a critical incident.

Amid the horror of what happened, we also saw something extraordinary. When confronted with scenes of terrifying violence, members of the public did not walk on by. Instead, a number of them stepped forward and, at immense risk to their own safety, intervened to pull the assailant away and protect the victim until the police arrived. To those individuals, I would like to say this: you showed the very best of humanity, and you have the profound gratitude of this entire House.

This was a horrific and brutal attack, and the PSNI is seeking to provide support and reassurance to the local community. The chief constable, to whom I have spoken twice this morning, and his officers have our full, unwavering support as they pursue their inquiries. I would also like to repeat their appeal not to share or repost footage of the attack out of respect for the victim’s family.

I echo the words of the Prime Minister this morning that there is no place for such violence on our streets. All of us have a responsibility now to urge calm and let the police do their job”.

[Lord Caine (Con)]

My Lords, the barbaric attack in north Belfast on Monday evening was truly sickening and our thoughts are with the victim. Will the Minister join me in commending the bravery of the public who intervened and the swift response of the Police Service of Northern Ireland? Does she agree that nothing justifies the violence we saw overnight? We are all angry. The right response, however, is not uncontrolled rage but to allow the law to take its proper course. In early 2024, the Irish Government were quick to raise concerns over migrants entering their jurisdiction through Northern Ireland. Can the Minister tell us what conversations are taking place to prevent migrants coming into Ireland from other safe EU countries that are in the Schengen area and then exploiting the common travel area to claim asylum here in the United Kingdom?

[The Parliamentary Secretary, Cabinet Office (Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent) (Lab)]

I thank the noble Lord for his comments with regard to the Police Service of Northern Ireland. I think that anyone who has watched the news in the last 36 hours can only be in awe of and very grateful to the chief constable, Jon Boutcher, and the brave men and women who are serving in all our emergency services, but especially the PSNI. I put on record the thanks of the whole House to those extraordinarily brave bystanders who chose not to look the other way but intervened very bravely to save a member of their community.

With regard to the specific question that the noble Lord raises on common travel area, he will be as aware as I am that the common travel area has been in operation for a century and is regularly a matter of conversation for both the British and Irish Governments; that continues to be the case and has been so this week. I think it is helpful for Members of your Lordships’ House to know that, in the last 12 months, 1,500 enforcement operations took place in relation to illegal immigration in Northern Ireland, with more than 1,200 arrests. This is something that this Government take very seriously.

[Baroness Suttie (LD)]

My Lords, I too deeply deplore Monday’s violent attack and condemn in the strongest possible terms those who seek to weaponise pain and suffering. In particular, I condemn those inciting violence from abroad, including Tommy Robinson from Moscow yesterday evening. Our thoughts are with the victim and his family, and we all owe a debt of gratitude to the bystanders and emergency services, whose bravery was truly outstanding. Does the Minister agree that the priority must be to help the community recover from this appalling violence, and will she say what the Government are doing to support the people of Belfast and bring communities back together through the difficult weeks ahead?

[Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent (Lab)]

I thank the noble Baroness for the tone that she has taken. I agree with every word that she said, not least about the appalling comments of Stephen Yaxley-Lennon—someone who I, in a previous incarnation, campaigned against for decades. For all of us, Stephen Ogilvie should be in our prayers, and we hope and wish for him to have as speedy a recovery as possible. In terms of working with the community, after the disorder in Ballymena last year, I went there and met the community leaders, the extraordinary women who stood in between those violent perpetrators and the community, and I am very grateful for them. It will take months for the community to heal from what is happening. I reiterate what the leader of the DUP has said in recent hours: protests and politics are British values; that is the way we engage; violence is not.

[Lord Dodds of Duncairn (DUP)]

My Lords, scenes of appalling violence that we have seen in Belfast and in north Belfast, which I used to have the honour to represent in the other place, have been rightly condemned by everybody. Such violence serves absolutely no purpose except to hurt communities and innocent people and should not be happening. Can the Minister, in relation to the horrific event on Monday night that sparked all this, give an assurance that there will be speedy justice for the victim, as we have seen in other cases, and that there will be no undue delay?

In terms of protecting and defending the people of Northern Ireland—and the open border has been mentioned—will she urgently review the operation of the common travel area and talk to the Irish authorities about what they are doing? Will she look at the draw factors which enable people to go through two, three or four safe countries before they claim asylum in the UK? Will she also look at a particular problem we have in Northern Ireland which has been subject to proposed legislation, so far unsuccessfully: outlawing the glorification of violence? This is happening at the very top of the Northern Ireland Government and is done by the First Minister, and it is encouraging young people to say, “Well, if it was okay for them; it is okay for us”. This culture of resorting to violence on the streets must end.

[Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent (Lab)]

I thank the noble Lord for both his service in this House and his decades of service in Northern Ireland. What we have seen reminds all of us quite how challenging it has always been to be a representative in Northern Ireland, and we are so grateful for the work that he has done.

It is important that we call for calm in Northern Ireland and across the country in the coming hours and days. I am pleased to see that has been the case across the political spectrum. In terms of the glorification of terrorism, there is no excuse for glorifying a proscribed organisation. It is illegal, as it should be.

[Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Lab)]

My Lords, I totally condemn the brutal and barbaric attack on Stephen Ogilvie, and I wish him a full and speedy recovery. I commend the first responders, the PSNI, and members of the community who apprehended the assailant. We then witnessed in the aftermath the uncontrollable violence that spilled on to the streets of Belfast. Does my noble friend agree that such violence seemed to concentrate, like a pogrom, on people of colour, and that it is important to adhere to the principle of diversity, which is the very essence of humanity?

[Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent (Lab)]

What we saw overnight is violence and disorder of the most shocking kind, using one of the most horrendous attempted murders, which we all unfortunately saw because it was spread across social media. We need to remember and contextualise what has happened in the past 24 hours, and what it led to. Some 27 people were made homeless last night because people went door to door to target foreign nationals and burn them out of their homes. I can only imagine their terror. The youngest victim to be moved from her home was two years old. I do not 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 as they were rescued from violent, racist thugs who sought to undermine their sense of belonging in a country that many have lived in for decades. It is simply unacceptable and will not be tolerated. As I should have said to the noble Lord, Lord Dodds, these people, the original perpetrator and those who have acted with such dishonour over the last 24 hours, will face the full strength of the law.

[Lord Elliott of Ballinamallard (UUP)]

My Lords, like everyone here, I offer my sincere sympathy to Mr Ogilvie and welcome the support for those who came to his aid, as well as the local people, the security services, police and ambulance service.

Like everyone, I totally condemn the violence of last night. Those who are living properly in that part of the United Kingdom have a right to live there. However, will the Minister give us some idea as to how she and the Government are going to stop the great number of illegal immigrants coming in their boatloads into the United Kingdom?

[Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent (Lab)]

The noble Lord raises a very important point. Nearly 70,000 people were deported between the general election and March 2026—a 41% increase on the 21 months before that. It is important for us to remember that we are a welcoming, open country; I am here only because of previous immigration policies that allowed my family to come. However, this is about making sure that, if you are lucky enough to live in the UK, you abide by British values, and if you do not, you will leave.

[Lord Mohammed of Tinsley (LD)]

My Lords, people are conflating those who come here illegally with those who are here legally. Among the people who were firebombed out of their homes last night was an African family who have been here for 20 years. We also saw pictures of a business, potentially started by an Indian family, that had been firebombed. There is no excuse for those people who are inciting hatred and racism. Just as South Yorkshire Police took action when the Holiday Inn in Rotherham was attacked, I really hope the Northern Ireland police service has the same vigour to take action against those who put life in danger over the last couple of days.

[Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent (Lab)]

The noble Lord raises an incredibly important point. We have seen people who have been too scared to go to work in the last 24 hours—people who serve in our NHS and in lots of different public services, as well as those who have built lives here, and we are grateful to them for doing so.

I would like to finish my contributions today not with my words but with the words of the Ogilvie family, because they reflect where most of us would want to be.

“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”.