https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c7242j738eno
The veteran Labour MP, Diane Abbott, has said she believes the new UK government should call a border poll.
She said it would establish where public opinion lies on both sides of the Irish border.
Ms Abbott, 70, is the longest-serving female MP in the House of Commons, having won a seat in 10 successive general elections since 1987.
She made her remarks about a border poll at an event in west Belfast, as part of the annual festival Féile an Phobail.
Ms Abbott said: “I think it’s very important to have a border poll, not least because it will establish where public opinion lies.
“I’m in favour of a united Ireland but it has to be with the consent of both sides of the border, and a border poll to establish where opinion lies is the first step towards a united Ireland."
The Labour government has indicated that it has no intention of calling a border poll in the near future.
Last month, the new Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn said in Belfast that there was “no evidence” that the conditions for holding such a vote had been met.
However, Ms Abbott said, in her opinion, it could it happen this decade.
In an interview with BBC News NI, she said: “It's perfectly possible in the next five years because that’s what politics is like.”
Five weeks before the general election, Ms Abbott was readmitted as one of the party's MPs, after being suspended for saying Jewish, Irish and the Traveller community do not face racism "all their lives".
On Thursday, the trade union leader Mick Lynch spoke at the Féile and talked about his support for a united Ireland.
Mr Lynch, whose parents are Irish, grew up in London and is general secretary of the RMT union.
He said: "I believe in a united Ireland. It was the way I was brought up. But it's got to be by consent, it's got to a real united Ireland where people come together at their pace.
"I don't believe in coercion. I think we have to grow a united Ireland rather than enforce it."
The Féile runs until 11 August.
by marquess_rostrevor
19 comments
Brexit should be a reminder to everyone that the general public cannot be trusted to make informed decisions on political matters.
WRT Abbott she’s just pandering to the audience in front of her, like all politicians do, and isn’t giving any constructive advice on the matter.
Same oul chat we’ve heard before, nothing new. Playing up to the crowd for political point scoring, which is understandable.
The only chance nationalists have of actually winning is if Diane Abbot is the one counting the votes…
Waiting for the usual r/northernireland trolls to pop up in here
Let’s do it peeps it’s the best way to get the whole of Ireland back into the UK, you think Ireland are unhappy with migration now? How does 1.8 million people who many like myself will never work another day in their lives to support. You only get a short existance and the benifits they offer are amazing, imagine the suckers pulling double shifts on a sunny day like this when you wouldnt have to anymore.
Does she mean “polling” instead of “a border poll”?
Massively over stepping her mark.
Well it’s Abbott time.
A date for a border poll with a clear timeline for a follow-up in the event of its failure (say 30 years after) would actually do so much to refocus minds in this part of the world. The complete uncertainty means that people feel presured to vote for parties that are either pro unionist or pro nationalist. If we could amputate the issue from the general political debate, then maybe people would start to hold politicians to account.
God bless her
A mad backbencher, not to be taken seriously.
A border poll within the next 10 years. Not the next 10 months. Doing a poll to get the “feeling” is a terrible idea. The Irish government, the NI assembly, the UK government, the EU and heck, even the US will need to get round a table for a few years and thrash out what a new ireland will look like before anyone puts a cross in a box.
A border poll will happen at some point but Diane Abbott is not the one you want pushing for it.
The woman is an absolute moonbeam of the highest order. Not a woman you’d want in your corner.
Pandering
All you PLASTIC Paddy’s Keep talking about a Border poll/ United ireland all you like but it’s NEVER happening – REAL Irish people are worried about their own country the Republic of Ireland .
As long as there’s tangible, real-world benefits and a real political plan as to how they’ll be implemented, then bring on a border poll. However, at the minute it’s all just emotional/ideological pandering to an echo chamber of nationalists that’s not set up to actually achieve anything.
Of course, true sickos like me want a border poll where the North says yes but the South says no. That would properly be chaos😜
I want a UI.
I am not voting “yes” in a border poll unless I know what I’m voting for.
If Labour want a viable border poll, then they need to start seriously discussing what a plan for a UI looks like with the Irish Government.
It’ll be somewhere in between NI being absorbed by the South and a completely new country entirely. That’s too wide a scope for some people go feet first in to with no idea what’s to come.
If its a single question it ain’t gonna go well, needs to be a like GFA not Brexit or Scottish Independance with actual structure and a process to follow came either outcome.
I think we should just ask people in England, Scotland and Wales.
No you believe Northern Ireland should remain part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland?
YES/NO/Is it not already part of Ireland?
>She said it would establish where public opinion lies on both sides of the Irish border.
Well, no. It says right [here](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1998/47/schedule/1) in the Northern Ireland Act 1998 that:
>the Secretary of State shall exercise the power under paragraph 1 if at any time it appears likely to him that a majority of those voting would express a wish that Northern Ireland should cease to be part of the United Kingdom and form part of a united Ireland.
So holding a border poll to establish public opinion is putting the cart before the horse. Why doesn’t a veteran MP who was quite literally in government when this was made law know these things?