Holding a border poll not a priority for Labour government, according to new NI minister
Holding a border poll is not a priority for the new Labour government, a new Northern Ireland minister has said.
Fleur Anderson MP was speaking at an SDLP event at the Labour Party conference in Liverpool.
Tuesday also saw Sir Keir Starmer deliver his first conference speech as Prime Minister, but there was no mention of Northern Ireland.
Sir Keir Starmer defended the "unpopular decisions" his government has taken, promising to "rebuild our public services".
The Prime Minister acknowledged the mounting tension around his decision to scrap the winter fuel allowance but maintained that pensioners would be "better off" with Labour.
“Stabilising our economy is the first step of this long term plan. The only way we keep prices down, cut NHS waiting lists and secure the triple lock so that every pensioner in this country, every pensioner, will be better off with Labour”, Starmer told delegates in Liverpool.Today was about laying out government priorities, but at an SDLP fringe event the new junior Northern Ireland minister Fleur Anderson indicated that those plans do not include a border poll.“No border poll is imminent. In my opinion, there are many other things that we should be working on and it's down to more than what Colin said about building that case in Northern Ireland if it's going to be. It’s not a priority for us", she said.
Incoming SDLP leader Claire Hanna attempted to brush off the new minister's words.“I'm not about policing what other politicians do and don't say. We know there are a range of constitutional views in the Labour Party, but we also know that they respect the Good Friday Agreement, which means that the constitutional future of Northern Ireland is in the hands of the people of Northern Ireland in all their diversity”, she said. Catch up with the latest UTV Live on ITVX
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