The instability in British politics has “serious implications” for issues like the row over the Brexit deal’s Northern Ireland protocol, the leader of the UK Labour Party Keir Starmer has said.
Mr Starmer also said that British prime ministers should always be “trusted honest brokers” when it comes to Northern Ireland but that this “ingredient” is missing with Boris Johnson.
He made the remarks at a British-Irish Chamber of Commerce event in the Guinness Storehouse on Wednesday evening.
Mr Starmer referred to Mr Johnson surviving a Conservative Party no confidence vote on Monday — despite 148 of his MPs voting against him — and told members of the business community in Dublin: “There are serious implications on the things we need to discuss tonight”.
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He said: “The protocol is a big issue you will have concerns about in particular developments where the [UK] Government is suggesting that bringing in legislation to unilaterally breach an international agreement is ever a good idea”.
He said: “This is serious politics and what happened on Monday ... is very destabilising now in our parliament. Don’t underestimate that.”
Mr Starmer said it is not known how long Mr Johnson will remain on as prime minister and said “History suggests probably not very long.”
He added: “It does mean that for however long he does last it’s unstable now in terms of how any legislation gets through ... and of course unstable because we don’t quite know when the next general election is going to be.
“It’s scheduled for 2024 but it could be any time between now and 2024.
“And that does affect the protocol, it does affect how we approach other issues, the legacy issues and the trade issues with Ireland, with the EU and with relations across the world and across Europe.”
He said the Labour Party’s “starting point” on the protocol, trade and legacy issues is the Belfast Agreement.
Mr Starmer said he believes there is a way to resolve these issues but “it’s got to be negotiated way through, respecting international relations, respecting international law”.
He said he previously worked in Northern Ireland and “one thing I’ve learned in all my visits here is that the essential ingredient is trust. Is trust, particularly with politicians from Westminster.
“The idea I think that any British prime minister should always be a trusted honest broker — whatever party they’re coming from — this isn’t a party political issue.
“And I think with those ingredients there is a way through these problems.”
Mr Starmer said he fears that “with this prime minister that ingredient of trust is missing” and he said he is worried about that.
He went on to ask those gathered about their views on practical solutions to issues like the protocol and also for “what you expect of us as the opposition and we hope very soon the Government in the United Kingdom.”
Mr Starmer is due to meet President Michael D Higgins for a courtesy call on Thursday, as well as holding talks with Taoiseach Micheál Martin. Meetings have also been scheduled with Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney and Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe. He is also expected to meet Labour Party leader Ivana Bacik.
Senior sources in Dublin say there is no formal agenda for the visit as of yet, but expect that east-west and north-south relations will feature, alongside talks on the Belfast Agreement and Brexit. It is Mr Starmer’s first visit since the pandemic, or since he was elected as leader of the British Labour Party.
The British opposition leader will also meet senior officials to discuss issues regarding UK and Irish relations and the current stalemate on the Northern Ireland protocol.
Mr Starmer will then travel on to Belfast later on Thursday afternoon for a series of meetings with senior political leaders at Stormont on Friday. He is expected to urge for compromise and negotiation between the different blocs in Stormont, and for the restoration of the powersharing executive. He is expected to tell political leaders in Northern Ireland that they and businesses in their communities are facing increasing uncertainty with Mr Johnson in power in Westminster.
He will argue that Mr Johnson has created trade barriers, placed strain on the Belfast Agreement and stoked political tensions, and will promise that Labour will seek workable solutions, pointing to his own experience of working and living in Northern Ireland, while promising that a Government led by him would make it a priority.
