https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c5y9lpk6ve4o
The shadow secretary of state for Northern Ireland has accused Labour of being “nervous” when it comes to advocating for the union.
Last week, the Labour government said a border poll was “not a priority” for it.
But on Sunday, the Conservative MP Alex Burghart said it was his party’s job to “champion” the four UK nations.
“If we give the separatists an inch, they will take a mile,” he told party members during a panel debate on the future of the union at the Conservative party conference.
This is the party’s first conference since the general election, which saw them suffer major electoral defeats and fall to 121 seats in the Commons.
'Soft touch'
Burghart was appointed shadow secretary of state in July by the outgoing Conservative leader Rishi Sunak.
He referenced Sinn Féin’s recent ard fheis (annual conference) on Saturday, where party President Mary Lou McDonald said she would appoint a minister for reunification if Sinn Féin gets into government in the Republic of Ireland.
And Burghart pointed to comments by former Taoiseach (Irish prime minister) Leo Varadkar last week, who said that Irish unity must be an "objective", not an "aspiration" for whoever is in charge after the next Irish election.
“This is obviously the nationalist parties thinking Labour might be a soft touch,” Burghart said on Sunday.
“The truth is Labour is much more nervous of being an open advocate for the union.“
by HeWasDeadAllAlong
4 comments
Irish unity makes Scottish independence more likely, Labour needs Scottish voters to keep or maintain power.
As such, Labour are status quo, making them unionist.
>“If we give the separatists an inch, they will take a mile,” he told party members during a panel debate on the future of the union at the Conservative party conference.
And the way not to give them an inch is to make sure this place actually works well and isn’t a shithole. Reason why it was foolish to threaten the city deals, which they quickly uturned on when they seen the massive backlash.
The union dragged us through brexit, when our democracy said otherwise.
fuk it
I see the Bought Buy Conservatives is being entirely fair and balanced in its reportage as usual. It’s only a matter of time before they start repeating the extremely spurious ‘Starmer is gay’ rumours.