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“OPPORTUNITY”
Starmer and his newly appointed Northern Ireland secretary, Hilary Benn, “won’t feel forced to put a border poll on the agenda, at most some pressure to outline procedural criteria for a poll to take place”.
Pro-UK unionists have historically allied with the UK Conservative party and been wary of Labour, but few are shedding any tears over the Tories’ defeat after 14 turbulent years in power.
“He has the opportunity to make significant changes and advance things positively,” DUP leader Gavin Robinson said after his party had a “productive discussion” with Starmer.
Post-Brexit trading rules agreed to by the DUP are seen by some unionists as erecting a de facto “sea border” between the British mainland and the province, undermining its place within the wider UK.
Unionists “hope that Starmer might prioritise tighter alignment with the EU, which could in turn mitigate the impact of the sea border, if not remove it”, Pow said.
Meanwhile, Labour’s manifesto committed to scrapping a controversial “Legacy Act” that prompted Dublin to sue London at the European Court of Human Rights.
The law, which came into effect in May, halted inquests into Troubles-era crimes, including many that allegedly involved British security forces, and granted conditional immunity to perpetrators.
“There’s no wriggle room on that, Labour has to remove it,” Jon Tonge, a politics professor at Liverpool University, told AFP.
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