Downing Street scrambles to calm row over Burnham’s ‘off the table’ Irish unity poll remarks

UK prime minister Andy Burnham’s “off the table” remarks on Thursday afternoon about an Irish Border poll met a typically muted reaction in the Westminster milieu, where issues regarding Northern Ireland often struggle to cut through.Yet it was clear by Thursday night that Downing Street had entered damage-limitation mode after Burnham was criticised by Irish nationalist politicians, incensed that his instant dismissal of a poll had, they said, undermined the provisions of the Belfast Agreement.Some officials in the Republic also privately expressed surprise at his choice of words. Downing Street tried to smooth things over with a 9.40pm statement.“The prime minister said as we approached the 30th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, his commitment to every part of it including the principle of consent remained unwavering,” said Downing Street, following his meetings in the North earlier on Thursday with all the main unionist and nationalist leaders.READ MORE“Every part of it” implies he accepts the provisions over the calling of a border poll.The Belfast Agreement says the UK’s secretary of state for Northern Ireland “shall” call a Border poll “if at any time it appears likely to him [or her] that a majority of those voting would express a wish” for Irish unity.In practice, this would be the prime minister’s call, probably in consultation with the UK’s cabinet.The agreement is ambiguous on the exact criteria for calling a Border poll and the conditions for assessing one is likely to pass. But it is very clear that this expression of the principle of consent (that the North’s status won’t change unless its people vote for it) should be exercised with a Border poll, or referendum.[ Andy Burnham in Belfast: Mixing up Donegal and Drogheda, but crystal clear on Border pollOpens in new window ]Burnham’s opposition to constitutional change in the North was expected, but the rationale he used led to accusations he was moving the goalposts for Irish unity. He appeared to suggest he was opposed to referendums in general because they were divisive.“That [a Border poll] is one issue that will be off the table,” Burnham told the BBC, using similar language in response to questions from The Irish Times and UTV.“We’ve got to focus on bringing people together as best we can,” he said, citing political divisions following Brexit and the 2014 Scottish independence referendum as the reason for not contemplating an Irish Border poll.“What we find is that the risks that come from those situations take a long time to heal and it sets you right back, and you can’t focus on what’s right in front of us here and now,” said Burnham, who said the focus should be on cost-of-living and social issues.Aontú’s leader Peadar Tóibín, who did not meet Burnham in the North, said he was “shocked” with Burnham’s “incredibly misjudged” statement: “It is a significant breech [sic] of the Good Friday Agreement.”SDLP leader Claire Hanna also took aim at his “clumsy language,” although the fact that he used the same wording with three different media outlets suggested his “off the table” mantra was actually pre-planned.“The Good Friday Agreement is clear on the right to pursue constitutional change and how that can come about, so it most definitely cannot be ‘off the table’,” said Hanna.Sinn Féin said Burnham’s comments were “anti-democratic”. Unionists, such as DUP leader Gavin Robinson, reacted with glee. He said Burnham’s comments had “put to bed” the “nonsense” of a poll.Former SDLP leader Colum Eastwood tweeted that Robinson was being “deliberately disingenuous” and insisted Burnham had only meant that a poll was off the table “in the here and now”.“No one with any sense wants one right now so we can all relax,” said Eastwood.The UK’s new prime minister, meanwhile, may have learned the lesson that he must never relax too much when he steps into the crucible of the North’s politics.