Belfast violence prompts fight on the right
6/10/202621 min
Has the unrest in Belfast sparked a new political battle over Britain’s immigration system
Political leaders have condemned the violent overnight protest after a Sudanese national was charged with attempted murder of a man in the city.
With parties scrambling to seize control of the narrative, Sam Coates and Anne McElvoy examine how the case has reignited questions about immigration, border security and the UK's system of indefinite leave to remain.
Elsewhere, Nigel Farage holds his first major news conference since the local and national elections. Will Reform face renewed scrutiny over immigration decisions made by some of its leading figures during their time in Conservative government?
You can find the full list of candidates standing in the Makerfield by-election here.
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First 90 secondsEd Conway0:00
[upbeat music] How does a banana trigger a CIA-backed coup? Do AirPods herald the arrival of a new global order? What do LED lights say about the future of humanity? [upbeat music] I'm Ed Conway, and in each episode of my new podcast, Stuff Matters, I take an object, crack it open, and reveal the world-shaping forces hidden inside. This is economics told through the things we think we understand. Search Stuff Matters on your podcast app to listen and follow.
Anne McElvoy· Host0:29
[upbeat music] Hello, good morning. It's Wednesday, June the 10th. Overnight, masked men burned vehicles and houses and blocked roads in and around Belfast, hours after Elon Musk, Tommy Robinson, and others urged people to take to the streets in anti-immigration protests. We'll be hearing from the Prime Minister and other party leaders on what happened later today. I'm Anne McElvoy from Politico.
Sam Coates· Host1:00
And I'm Sam Coates of Sky News. The protests took place in the wake of a sickening attack, knife attack, on Monday night in a residential, predominantly Republican suburb of North Belfast. The attack was on a local man in his 40s. He's now in a serious condition in hospital with injuries to his eyes, his face, and his back. But the angle now at the heart of the political debate is the immigration history and the manner of the arrival of his potential attacker, a Sudanese citizen