Politics | The Guardian

Northern Ireland minister urges calm after ‘horrific and brutal’ knife attack in Belfast – UK politics live

Andrew Sparrow — Tue, 09 Jun 2026 12:44:39 GMT

He praised members of the public for intervening to protect the victim

Full report: Man seriously injured in Belfast stabbing Starmer describes as ‘sickening’

Badenoch said, after the murder of Stephen Lawrence, it was right that people wanted to ensure this did not happen again.

It led to the Macpherson report, she said.

[It] wanted to put right what went wrong with policing in the 1990s.

However, in attempting to do so, it also enshrined a principle which I believe is wrong that a racist incident is racist if it is perceived as racist by the victim or any other person.

Equality law, properly designed, should protect us all in the same way. It should be a shield, not a sword.

It should protect people from discrimination. It should protect people from being treated differently because of their race, sex, religion, sexuality, disability or age.

Politics | The Guardian

Northern Ireland minister urges calm after ‘horrific and brutal’ knife attack in Belfast – UK politics live

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