Border poll on ‘if time’s right’
UK LABOUR POLITICIAN MAKES VOW
THE British Labour Party’s shadow Northern secretary says he would call a border poll if the circumstances were right.
Peter Kyle said he “would not be a barrier if the circumstances emerge” but does not believe last week’s census results have changed things.
“These are all inter-related aspects of the debate but actually that crucial aspect of when there is a clear majority, which is what was set out in the Good Friday Agreement, that is a different thing altogether,” he told the BBC’s Sunday Politics show at the Labour Party conference.
“If the circumstances emerge as set out in the Good Friday Agreement, I as secretary of state, would not play games. I would call the border poll.
“But these are issues that when you look at the direct needs in Northern Ireland right now – we have a cost-of-living crisis, there is a crisis in public services in Northern Ireland, the longest waiting lists for treatment in the NHS. This is what we’ve got to get on with now.
“So constitutional issues are important but don’t pretend that it is a distraction from the real issues.”
Mr Kyle also said if Labour comes to power and he becomes Northern secretary, and it is clear that those circumstances emerge, he would set out the criteria in detail.
“We’re not even in that circumstance yet, so when we move towards the point where those circumstances set out in the Good Friday Agreement start to emerge and it becomes a priority for the people of Northern Ireland, I will act,” he added.
Failure
With speculation that a fresh Stormont Assembly election may have to be called with the institutions unable to fully function due to the DUP’s boycott over the Protocol, Mr Kyle said more elections will be a “sign of abject failure”. “We have a small window of opportunity now,” he added. “I think we have got a great opportunity to really seize the moment and move forward.”