Question to the Northern Ireland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what discussions he has had with the political parties of Northern Ireland about the violence and disorder that has taken place in Belfast.

I met with the leaders of the main Northern Ireland political parties on Thursday 11 June to discuss the horrendous knife attack in North Belfast and the subsequent disorder. I welcome that they have all condemned the violence we saw in the strongest of terms.

Our thoughts continue to be with the victim of this terrible attack, as well as with his family and the wider community. There is absolutely no place for this kind of brutality in our society and absolutely no justification for the subsequent disorder seen in parts of Northern Ireland, which specifically targeted ethnic minorities, put lives at risk and damaged communities.