Irish unity ‘will not be on the agenda’ for the British Government if Labour wins the next election, Alistair Campbell has said.

Under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement, the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland is obligated to call a border poll if “at any time it appears likely to him that a majority of those voting would express a wish that Northern Ireland should cease to be part of the United Kingdom and form part of a united Ireland.” 

When asked last week whether those conditions had been met, Labour leader Keir Starmer said he did not think Northern Ireland was “anywhere near that” and a border poll was “not even on the horizon”. 

Speaking to The Pat Kenny Show, Tony Blair’s former spin doctor Alistair Campbell said he did not expect the position would change anytime soon. 

“He’s fairly unequivocal in his thinking that this is not currently on the agenda,” Mr Campbell said. 

“I think the one thing we’ve noticed about Keir Starmer, he’s a pragmatic politician and I think he understands Northern Ireland way better than the current Government because he worked there very, very closely in his time running the Crown Prosecution Service.”

Hearing from students in St Columb's College in Derry today, it's clear how important the peace and reconciliation embodied by John and Pat Hume is to this community.

My Labour Party will always support a deal to bring peace to Northern Ireland. pic.twitter.com/A0ZOuQxBBc

— Keir Starmer (@Keir_Starmer) March 3, 2023

According to an IPSOS poll last month, most Britons said the economy was their main concern, followed by prices and then the health service. 

Northern Ireland did not feature in the top 10 and Mr Campbell said the Labour Party knows it does not resonate as an issue with many voters. 

“I think what he [Keir Starmer] is doing is trying to fight this coming General Election on his terms and his issues,” he said. 

“So, when these issues pop up, he answers them, he deals with them - but he does it in a way that tries not to generate too much debate around them because he does want to focus on growth, on health, on law and order, on the environment, on energy prices and so forth.” 

The next British General Election is expected to be held in autumn next year.

Main image: Split of Campbell and Starmer. Pictures by: Alamy.com