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Andy Burnham has sparked a political row during his first visit to Northern Ireland as Prime Minister after he stated that an Irish border poll is “off the table”.
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Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald reacted strongly to the remarks, stating that no prime minister has the right to “high-handedly” remove the provision for a unity referendum from the Good Friday Agreement.
However, DUP leader Gavin Robinson welcomed the comments, stating the Prime Minister had “put to bed the nonsense” speculation over a unity poll.
During his visit to Belfast Mr Burnham said he is “here to listen” but added that the “rifts” arising from referendums “take a long time to heal”, referring to Brexit and the Scottish independence referendum.
Under the terms of the 1998 Belfast/Good Friday Agreement, the Secretary of State can decide to hold a border poll, and it also places a duty on the office holder to call one if it appears likely a majority would vote for Irish unification.
The people of the Republic of Ireland must also vote in favour to effect constitutional change.
Northern Ireland Secretary Sir Chris Bryant has previously said that an Irish border poll is “not top of my list of priorities”.
Speaking to reporters in Belfast on Thursday, the Prime Minister reiterated that he is “here to listen”.
“I will take a collaborative approach but some issues will be off the table, and that is one issue that will be off the table,” he said.
He added: “I think we’ve got to focus on bringing people together as best we can, and I think we’ve lived through a decade where there’s been a referendum on Brexit, we had Scottish independence just before it.
