Establishment servant vows to maintain status quo despite legal duty to hold reunification referendum
‘Labour leader’ Keir Starmer – the ‘long-time servant of the British security state’ – has put the people of Northern Ireland in danger by announcing that if he ever becomes PM there will not be a referendum in Northern Ireland on the re-unification of Ireland – a crucial foundation of the Belfast Agreement that has enabled a quarter of a century of peace:
A key promise of the peace agreement was that if there was ever a realist prospect of a vote for Ireland to be re-unified, a referendum would be held – and a poll in April 2021 showed that more than half of Northern Ireland’s population now favour it.
The UK government has a legal and moral obligation to hold the referendum. That the Tories have chosen to flout the law is no surprise – but the red Tory’s declaration that he has no intention of holding one makes it clear to the people of Northern Ireland that there is no party that might govern that is willing to offer them the choice required by law. More than half now want that choice and want the outcome of re-unification and betraying them by denying them any prospect of it puts everyone in danger.
The people of England have already been denied a meaningful choice by the rigging of the system to make both main parties the same corrupt bunch with two rosette colours – and that is damning and dangerous enough. But to do so in a place where the people brought an end to violence because of a legally-binding promise that he intends to ignore is unforgivable.
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I’m curious to see how the ‘Irish’ politicians in the US Senate and US House respond to this declaration.
We’ll see how much sway his former pals in The Trilateral Commission, really, hold over them and Joe Biden.
Starmer may have spent a little time in N. Ireland, in a legal capacity, but, once again, he shows how little understanding he has about politics in the place – and – of The Good Friday Agreement.
I wonder if this Labour Party are still intent in contesting seats, in N. Ireland elections. Haven’t heard much since the initial announcement.
Was that just another bit of, ill-advised, Blackfriars Labour sh*t stirring?
In Strictly come dancing terms the first move is Sinn Fein to win in the South then even a shit dance partner like the Fuhrer will have to fall into step
As per result last night in Scotland if Red Tories give us Austerity MkII then the call for another Independence Referendum will be unavoidable
The alternative iwould be catastrophic for those whom we tolerate to govern us
Genius is knowing when to stop shitting on us from a great height
Legally speaking and according to the Good Friday agreement neither Labour no the Tories have a say on the matter.
My understanding of the Good Friday Agreement is that it is a majority within Stormont that has to agreed to hold a Referendum calling for the reunification of Ireland.
Hence it isn’t up to Westminster to allow it or no but, to the political parties represented at Stormont.
I guess that the DUP will never agree to hold one and possibly Alliance isn’t calling for one either yet.
The Dáil has a say in it to, Maria.
…and the UN. The US. The EU. All guarantors of The GFA.
Herr Starmer doesn’t know what a big can of worms he’s tossing around.
It pains me to say this George, but maybe Starmer is reading the (intelligence) tea-leaves?
UN. Besides XI and Putin not showing, Sunak also didn’t show for the recent UN meeting.
US. Have you seen the videos? I thought the collapse of the USSR was bad.
EU. Currently committing suicide. Multiple fractures (Hungary and Poland to name just two).
Will any of the three above exist in five years time?
Does this mean that Sir Keir Starmer would actually ‘suspend’ (deny, disregard, refuse) the Good Friday/Ulster Agreements, which, together with quickly-regretted (by Blair, Mandelson, Campbell) FoI provisions, were probably the only good things to result from Tony Blair’s ‘new’ Labour administration?
It’s not just the safety of Ireland’s citizens, the integrity of the principle of consent and the Labour party itself that a Starmer administration would risk.
Qwertboi,
Do you think Starmer gives a shit about the safety of Ireland’s citizens?
Totally agree Baz 2001. Starmer doesn’t care about Ireland or the fate of the Irish if there is a return to violence . He doesn’t care about the crippling poverty and hunger many children are suffering throughout the UK. He doesn’t care about how the privatisation of the NHS will affect our health. He doesn’t care about the vulnerable who will die of cold this winter.
The only thing he seems to cares about is Israel. His support for its apartheid regime borders on the fanatical.
He has supported the apparent right of the Israeli Army to kill Palestinian men women and children and if any Labour member has the temerity to object to this slaughter of innocents he will brand them an anti semite and hound them out of the party. His fellow extremists will then hound them out of their jobs and deprive them of their means to make a living ( if they can) and invariably drag their reputations into the gutter.
His remit is to protect and defend Israel. Nobody else matters.
Domino effect
The question is once the first domino topples they cannot stop the others falling
Ireland, Scotland, Wales, North East, North West, South East, London
Aye, but despite supposedly being a one-time erstwhile supporter of electoral reform (or so SteveH has claimed), Sir Keir hasn’t allowed any of his shadow sycophants to address the pivotal question of reforming FPTP. He needs its distortions (as all economically-right wing politicians do) to get anywhere near Downing Street) and it’s continued-FPTP that causes the UK’s member nations (and regions) to seek ‘independence’.
Effective elections — using a version/mix of PR — is the only way to make democracy true, and of course the trilateral Member for Davos doesn’t prioritise any of that (I wonder why).
I don’t think that Starmer gives a shit about any of us.
His loyalty is to the Trilateral Commission – the international arm of American foreign policy to ensure the continuance of U$ hegemony.
Starmer was a long-term member …. as was Mandelson.
Get the picture ?? !!
Good piece on Guido about the disappearance of the press transparency section of the Labour website plus Starmer squirming over writing for The S** – https://order-order.com/2023/10/06/labour-remove-press-transparency-section-from-party-website/
Tim – The article you have linked to also makes it clear that this ‘commitment’ to publish everything turned out to be a short-lived one that soon fell by the wayside when Corbyn was in tenure.
“The “How We Work” section of the site used to feature a list last updated in May 2016.
Yes, but nobody thought that Jeremy Corbyn or his officials at LOTO were sneaky and malicious double-agents – WHEREAS the entire world (aand its dog) knows that Starmer and Co are spiteful, malevolent and malefic!!
qwertboi – If that were really the case then it would make Corbyn’s failure to diligently update this section of the website as a shining example to his successors all the more strange. I wonder why he chose to abandon this commitment.🤔
but yeah, SteveH, Im sure there is no-one more disappointed by this than Jeremy Bernard C. himself! But then again, all that disgusting chicken-coupery and Weaponising Anti-Semitism (thanks, Margaret Hodge, Kier Rodney, and co.) had its effect.
‘Disable and Denature’ for the Many, not the Few – that’s the centrists’ Holy of Holies, all they ever really wanted!
qwertboi – You are the one desperately trying to make up excuses.🙄
WOW! Thanks Tim W. That Guido article could have been written by a regular-here – or even SW himself!
“LABOUR STEP UP PRESS SECRECY….A complete list of any and all meetings with press barons probably isn’t something he wants to publish now…”
Too True!
qwertboi – How desperate are you?
Herr Flick
There was a taste of things to come today for the Fuhrer, he is viscerally detested on all sides, his supporters have nothing to counter this, nothing
Doug – So you keep saying, 🥱
Who are you trying to convince, yourself?😕
Herr Flick
His supporter yesterday could not come up with anything of substance,nothing, no flagship policy, no core beliefs
He had been getting away with being the integrity candidate, boring but decent, until a Labour member came on and declared the majority of supporters hope he loses because of his lies and duplicity during the leadership contest, every pledge down the pan
Tories are going with his support for JC ,his friend during the contest
Give us all a Giraffe and answer both those charges or give us a knockout policy
https://i.imgflip.com/1d7bi0.jpg?a470208
It never changes. It never ends.
Please drop dead, you beyond boring fuck.
Toffee – Is that why you keep coming back for more. 😏
Don’t give yourself too many callouses by patting yourself on the back in your delusion that people are drawn to your guff, wee nonsense.
As long as you post your puerile ad nauseam, ad infinitum shite, you’ll be called on it.
Don’t take that as some sort of appraisal, neither. Although with you being the self-infatuated & socially-inept retard that you are….
As someone who saw through the fatuousness of Labour at the turn of the century I feel no need to consider the relative merits of those deluded enough to invest time in leading it since then. My hope is that a growing number of people will reject the ongoing cosy duopoly and demand a system that permits genuine choice.
Yes – Electoral Reform will make our Democracy real. Make it actual. Make it real.
And, as Tony Benn knew: “Democracy and Socialism are Indivisible – get one, you get the other (free)”.
qwertboi – Are you having a laugh. Try telling that to the people that have the misfortune to live in countries that profess to be socialist.
ooops, what he actually said was “get one and the other occurs symbiotically. They are two sides of the same coin”.
What a great man he was. I miss him nearly as much as I miss Jeremy Corbyn.
Hold on there, Jeremy. Hold On.
qwertboi – Has he got anything left to hold on to.
https://skwawkbox.org/2023/10/06/starmer-puts-n-ireland-lives-in-danger-with-illegal-no-unity-referendum-declaration/#comment-249721
What’s your crib, plums?
You’re the loudest, shriekiest proponent of electoral reform, inasmuch as abolishing fptp and going for a PR system.
Seem a tad averse now it’s been suggested that socialist policies and political parties could benefit from your grandiose ideas.
Wassamarra? Worried you’ll be unable to revert to your lost deposits stock answer?
You’ve got several others that you’ll continue to abuse.
…Stock answers, I mean. Your goats are a different matter. 😕
Tim – It has been over 20 years now, how’s it going?
Toffee : someone gave him the opening, and he was ‘in like Flynn’.
You’ll note, he hasn’t commented on the, actual, article. Nothing he can say, really.
Off topic:
Ahead of Conference, Coll McCail writes in Jacobin
Five years ago, the Labour Party’s conference was a sea of Palestinian flags. Delegates voted overwhelmingly to support suspending the sale of arms to Israel, in solidarity with the people of Palestine. As this year’s Labour conference convenes in Liverpool, those very weapons manufacturers will be welcomed with open arms. Boeing — who earlier this year agreed to supply the Israeli Air Force with twenty-five fighter jets — will sponsor the New Statesman’s fringe events. They will be joined by an array of fossil fuel companies, banks, and industry lobbyists determined to woo the “government in waiting.” The days when an antiwar activist led the party will feel like a long time ago.
Business representatives will make up almost a third of conference attendees. Trade union delegates, on the other hand, form just 3 percent. Despite the imbalance, the leadership continues to restrict members’ influence…
With debate stifled and power stripped from members’ hands, what purpose does this year’s conference serve? A further look at the sponsors of the New Statesman’s fringe events holds the answer. For Ovo Energy and SSE, the goal will no doubt be to herald the private energy market’s role in mitigating climate change. Private health care provider Bupa eyes an opportunity to charm Wes Streeting, after the shadow health secretary hinted at further privatization of the National Heath Service (NHS). Financial groups like TheCityUK, Santander, and TSB will be out to get their claws into Labour’s promised £28 billion green investment fund — a predictably easy task.
This year’s conference will prove Keir Starmer’s rightward swerve represents far more than a betrayal of Labour members’ trust or the principles outlined on the back of our cards. Politics itself has been banished from the Labour Party.
https://jacobin.com/2023/10/keir-starmer-anti-politics-labour-party-workers
Getting back to the NI situation – the Johnson “Oven Ready Deal”
effectively threw the Unionists under a bus*** – whereby NI were
in the Single Market*** and Great Britain (the rest of the UK) were NOT
so that the border between the two was down the middle of the Irish Sea (as
it used to be called ..) Possibly the “Windsor Agreement” mitigates this but
that does not alter the fact.
Starmer has completely ignored this in his flip flopping about the
position of the UK in respect of the EU and his “changing his tune”
depending on who he addresses.
Maybe he doesn’t understand the situation?
This latest comment – which I did not know about till I read it here indicates
… Don’t know .. Don’t care or understand .. or even try to ..
to me.
***
And far be it from me to sympathise with the Unionists – but it certainly
didn’t help the Peace Process.
Conflation of “membership of the Single Market” with “membership of the
EU” confuses – and doesn’t help anything .. in respect of Northern Ireland
being “divided by a Border” from Great Britain ..