During his first visit to the North on Thursday (27/8/26), Burnham said a border poll was “off the table”. The dismissal by Andy Burnham of the national aspirations for a United Ireland is unbelievably, but unsurprisingly, crass and arrogant. It shows that no working-class person here, across the communities, or in England, Scotland or Wales, can expect any real positive change from the Labour Government.
Burnham’s comments on a border poll, regardless of his portrayal as a common man, reflect that he completely represents the interests of the British capitalist establishment. In order to protect their massive wealth, profits and prestige, he – and the rest of the political elite – have now set themselves against any measure that would potentially undermine the entity of the UK, whether that be a border poll here or future independence referendums in Scotland or Wales. The British establishment fears a break up of the UK would fundamentally undermine their economic privilege and international prestige, all the more as a declining and weakened imperial power. Burnham and Co will fight that, even if that means in effect undermining the Good Friday Agreement (GFA), which they themselves played a part in bringing into existence.
The GFA supposedly enshrines consent as the principle of any border change. It was sold to people from Nationalist backgrounds as a path to a united Ireland, but at the same time to people from Unionist backgrounds as a means to stop a United Ireland and continue the connection with Britain. The technical and legal reality is that the power to call a referendum rests with the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, who is appointed by the UK Prime Minister. To put it more plainly, it is the representatives of the British capitalist establishment, not the people in Northern Ireland, who control the situation and hold the power.
Solidarity has expressed our view many times that the issue of whether or when there would be a border poll would most likely be superseded by the denial of a border poll. This brings into question the strategy of Nationalism here, and the reliance upon the mechanisms and capitalist institutions which currently exist (the British State, Stormont, the Irish state and the EU) to deliver. Such a strategy is hitting its inevitable barrier, as in truth these bodies are wholly undemocratic. The British establishment has continually denied a second referendum in Scotland, and European Union member states such as the Spanish State and France (with the tacit approval of the rest of the EU) have fought against the demands for independence from the Catalan people and the Kanak people in New Caledonia, for example.
None of these pro-capitalist bodies are capable of delivering on people’s aspirations. This is understandably a major blow for many who aspire to a united Ireland, considering the promise contained within the GFA. This is, however, an opportunity to look at how genuine lasting peace and national rights can be won here, and more importantly, who can win it.
For those who wish to maintain a union with Britain and see a potential ally in the Burnham administration, his comments and actions should prove the opposite. Working class people who viewed Burnham’s comments favourably should consider fully what this development fundamentally represents, even though they may be opposed to the idea of a border poll.
By his actions, Burnham has demonstrated that he is a representative of the capitalist class’ interests and the real methods of the British establishment. That it is ultimately politicians and wealthy business men that hold the levers of power and impose decisions on the rest of us.
Just as there was no genuine consultation with working-class people here about the possibility of an Irish Sea border and yet again a decision around the north-south border is imposed from above. The decision to implement the Northern Irish Protocol is another prime example of decisions being made over the heads of people in the North and enforced from above. The protocol is of course not the same or comparable to the consequences of partition, but the point is that these decisions are imposed upon people here without our say. The truth that Burnham and his ilk will go to pains to deny is that it is not possible to guarantee the rights of people of all nationalities on this island by imposing decisions from above.
Andy Burnham has also given the clearest indication that there won’t be any change – there will be no real change in living standards, no real change in the housing crisis or in the NHS, and no real change to the dysfunctional and volatile status quo of the North. In fact, because he has demonstrated he clearly represents big business interests and their profits, all our lives and the world around us, is unfortunately going to be beset by more misery and more intractable issues and problems.
In Solidarity, we believe that any forces that base themselves on representing or propping up the status quo of the capitalist profit system, whether that be in Britain, Stormont, or the Irish State, will not be able to point a way forward on any key issues. We believe that in order to win a better future where all nationalities have the right to self-governance, the ingenuity and solidarity of working-class people must be engaged and our generosity unleashed. Working class people, whether they are from a Protestant, Catholic or any background have a common cause against this system. This is why we need to build unity and fight for a socialist Ireland, with the principles of real consent, mutual respect and self-determination for all peoples enshrined.
