Northern Ireland Secretary welcomes united condemnation of violence

Speaking to the media at Stormont House in Belfast, Secretary of State Brandon Lewis welcomes the condemnation of violence from all the Stormont parties and expresses his confidence in the PSNI.

Mr Lewis denied that the UK Government had abandoned unionists through the new Brexit arrangements - one of the concerns inflaming tensions among loyalists that have sparked a week of violence, which police said has been on a scale not seen in recent years.Mr Lewis arrived in Northern Ireland on Thursday following violent scenes at a Belfast interface on Wednesday evening, to speak to political and faith leaders.