See more Daily Mail on Google - save us as a Preferred SourceBy DAILY MAIL COMMENT Published: 20:45 BST, 10 June 2026 | Updated: 20:45 BST, 10 June 2026
It goes without saying that there can be no excuse for the rampage of thuggery, intimidation and wanton destruction across Belfast in the past 36 hours.No one disputes that people have a right to be angry over the gruesome act of violence visited on a corner of that most resilient of cities on Monday night. Nonetheless, as Kemi Badenoch remarked yesterday, that does not give anyone a licence to burn families out of their homes, destroy public property or attack police.Yet, in the understandable rush to condemn the disorder, there is a very real danger of missing the bigger picture here. The savagery on Kinnaird Avenue should be the cue for a national discussion on all the issues surrounding the United Kingdom’s approach to asylum.It is impossible to argue that this isn’t a long-overdue dialogue. The roots of Britain’s asylum problem date back to the late 1990s, as a flood of migrants fleeing global flashpoints such as Iraq, Somalia and the former Yugoslavia landed here.But the Channel small-boats crisis, which has seen more than 200,000 illegal arrivals here since 2018, has elevated the problem to an entirely new level. Meanwhile, the Belfast knife attack has highlighted the problems of having a porous border with the Irish Republic under the long-standing and politically sensitive Common Travel Area protocol. No one doubts it is a complex situation and, yes, it is difficult to establish how we can reach a workable solution.But if this horrific incident doesn’t prompt us to start discussing the core issues as a matter of urgency, then it is difficult to imagine how bad things will have to get before we do get around to talking. In the understandable rush to condemn the disorder (pctured), there is a very real danger of missing the bigger picture here The one thing that practically everyone agrees on is that the current system clearly isn’t working.It is just two months since the Government put aside £660million to pay the French to sort out the Channel mess – but given that a broadly similar deal in 2023 cost £500million and still resulted in more than 80,000 migrants crossing the water, the portents are distinctly unpromising.The Conservatives’ Rwanda asylum scheme had offered hope of addressing the problem and, indeed, early indications suggested it was having a deterrent effect on would-be migrants. But Sir Keir Starmer’s pig-headed decision to snuff out the programme has ensured that the never-ending flotilla of boats continues apace.Nothing has been offered by Sir Keir to replace the Rwanda plan and, if he is as bereft of ideas on the subject as he appears to be, now is the time for a national conversation across party lines on the way forward. Everything from border controls and security checks to the processing of applications and the criteria for handing out visas must be on the table.The deeply troubling case of Henry Nowak provided an opportunity for a legitimate debate on whether equality in policing has gone too far. But that chance was missed when public discourse was instead diverted towards the furore over violence breaking out during protests in Southampton.Regardless of how unacceptable and dispiriting the scenes in Belfast are, we should not allow ourselves to be distracted on this occasion. Unless there is a full and frank debate on who is being allowed into the UK, the situation will never improve.In fact, it will almost certainly get far, far worse. There will be more bloodshed on the streets followed by more rioting – and the whole depressing cycle will continue. Burying our heads in the sand is no longer an option.
