RACIST thuggery was behind the riots in Belfast, Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn said today in the strongest remarks yet from a cabinet minister.

Mr Benn also slammed people using social media to incite further disorder in Northern Ireland, which continues to be gripped by unrest following an attack on a man in Belfast on Monday.

Hadi Alodid, 30, a refugee from Sudan granted asylum in 2023, has been charged with attempted murder arising from the incident, which has left a victim in hospital.

Mr Benn, responding to the disorders in Belfast on Tuesday and Wednesday, which saw ethnic minorities driven from their homes and multiple houses set ablaze, called the riots racist and said they created “a sense of fear.”

He said: “If you are targeting people on the basis of the colour of their skin how else can you describe them? That is racist thuggery, there’s no question about it at all.

“We’re talking about small number of thugs engaged in this behaviour and now the eyes of the world are on Northern Ireland and that is why this must stop.”

The Northern Ireland secretary also attacked the use of social media to target ethnic minorities for attack.

He said: “It is completely unacceptable to direct someone to a particular address because you say, or you think you know, that a particular person lives there.

“The vast majority of people would be very shocked to know that was going on and the social media companies have a responsibility to take down illegal content, particularly when we’ve been seeing circumstances like we have in Northern Ireland recently.”

Billionaire X owner Elon Musk has used his platform to encourage protests directed at migration, while habitual far-right provocateur Tommy Robinson also used X to direct supporters to what became riots.

The government is to amend its Online Safety Act to make it obligatory for tech companies to move faster to remove misinformation.

Mr Benn also talked up the tough migration regime in Northern Ireland, boasting that about 1,000 illegal migrants were removed from the Six Counties last year, and warned of a further crackdown.

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch apologised for the fact that Mr Alodid was granted asylum when the party was in office.

But she did not fail to point out that the ministers then in charge, Robert Jenrick and Suella Braverman, have since left to join Reform.