Hilary Benn needs to urgently clarify Labour’s position on Sean Brown inquiry, city deals and Casement Park - The Irish News view

While there were reasonable hopes that the arrival of a new Labour government in London would have positive consequences for all the people of Ireland, north and south, the evidence of recent days has been hugely disappointing.

It remains likely that Keir Starmer’s administration will be an improvement on its shambolic Conservative predecessors but, as the bar could not have been set any lower, that hardly represents a form of genuine advance.

Although Mr Starmer and his senior colleagues were entitled to highlight the scale of the economic mess which was left behind by the Tories, it has been alarming that they have repeatedly used it as an excuse for a lack of wider political ambition, and given the firm impression that the basic errors of judgment associated with the previous austerity agenda were likely to return.

The events of last Friday summed up the direction of travel to date in our region, and made it an extremely disillusioning day for those from all backgrounds who have been campaigning for progress on a range of fronts across our divided society.

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As has been well documented, it was almost beyond belief that Hilary Benn, our new secretary of state, chose to push out what will be widely regarded as a disingenuous statement on the Casement Park project late in the evening, in the style of a slippery PR operator.

His subsequent attempts to set out his position on Monday were equally perturbing, and failed to convincingly explain why the outstanding opportunity associated with hosting the 2028 European Championships, as part of a scheme of fundamental importance to both the GAA and the Irish Football Association, had been written off.

It was almost beyond belief that Hilary Benn chose to push out what will be widely regarded as a disingenuous statement on Casement Park late in the evening, in the style of a slippery PR operator

Friday was also the day when it emerged in highly confusing circumstances that Whitehall was pausing the funding of crucial and much heralded city deal regeneration packages for four Northern Ireland districts worth up to £1.5 billion.

It may be that the initiative will be at least partially reactivated after an overall spending review is completed next month, but it is clear that, while the Belfast and Derry elements could yet proceed, the plans for Causeway Coast and Glens as well as Mid South West are very much at risk.

A third hammer blow arrived on the same day with Mr Benn’s announcement that he was rejecting a direct request from a coroner for a public inquiry into the appalling 1997 murder of GAA official Sean Brown, even though the involvement of state agents has been comprehensively established.

All the issues connected to Mr Brown, the city deals and Casement Park remain under an intense spotlight, and the onus is on Mr Benn to produce an urgent list of clarifications.