Sir Keir Starmer’s views of the Irish constitutional question are “out of step” with Labour Party grassroots, according to transport union boss Mick Lynch.
The Labour leader has previously ruled out a border poll and said that he would campaign for Northern Ireland to remain in the UK if a referendum on Irish unity were called.
He was criticised last year by his predecessor Jeremy Corbyn, who told The Irish News that the Good Friday Agreement says the British and Irish governments should “stay out of the debate and be neutral” in a referendum.
According to Mr Lynch, who will be among the speakers at the Ireland’s Future event in Belfast on Saturday, Labour members have traditionally been sympathetic to the cause of Irish unity.
The Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union general secretary said party policy would be to support Irish unification by consent.
The English-born son of Irish parents, who “believes in a 32-county Irish constitution”, said unification doesn’t necessarily involve the imposition of an all-island republic at the outset.
“It doesn’t have to mean what the Republican Movement have always pushed, that we just go for a 32-county sovereign state in the traditional format and just abolish the north,” he said.
“I think it’s got to be more about a convergence and coming together – unity at all levels – where you respect each other’s traditions, you respect each other’s positions politically, but you get on with it and try and push the debate forward and push solutions forward.”
Mr Lynch, who is involved in efforts to promote discussions about the constitutional question within the trade union movement, said what Ireland’s Future was doing was “interesting”.
“I think the interesting thing about Ireland’s Future is that they’re actually trying to create a prospectus for what a future Ireland might be like,” he said.
“That’s an interesting development, and it’s happening outside of a period of conflict, which is good.”
He said the Labour membership and party policy was “sympathetic to a united Ireland” but that Sir Keir had taken a “unilateral decision... to box off the right-wing press”.
“I believe he’s out of step with Labour Party members, who would be sympathetic to the the concept of a 32-county united Ireland and that’s probably in line with Labour policy, that they would achieve that through consensus,” he said.
“Starmer has said stuff about the union and the need to preserve Northern Ireland’s place in the United Kingdom but I think that’s as far as it goes. I think he’s just put that in the drawer and would be happy for it to be left there for the next few years.”
Mr Lynch said the north and the Irish constitutional question were “not on the agenda” in Britain.
“Northern Ireland and discussions about Irish unity are not a feature of political discussion in the UK,” he said.
“It’s a side effect of getting the Good Friday Agreement and a period of relative peace that it’s gone down the agenda in Britain, because people think it’s been dealt with. We’ve got to work hard to get it up the agenda.”
