PoliticsAnalysis

Clear change of tone in Belfast as Keir Starmer promises stability and respect

Sinn Féin’s Mary Lou McDonald compared working with Labour rather than the Conservatives ‘as the daylight to the dark’

British prime minister Keir Starmer is greeted by Northern Ireland's First Minister Michelle O'Neill and Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly on arrival for a meeting at Stormont Castle in Belfast on Monday. Photograph: Paul Faith/AFP via Getty Images
British prime minister Keir Starmer is greeted by Northern Ireland's First Minister Michelle O'Neill and Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly on arrival for a meeting at Stormont Castle in Belfast on Monday. Photograph: Paul Faith/AFP via Getty Images
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Freya McClements
Tue Jul 09 2024 - 06:00

Stormont was all smiles for Keir Starmer.

Smiles from the first and deputy first ministers, Michelle O’Neill and Emma Little-Pengelly, as they greeted him at Stormont Castle early on Monday morning.

A smile from the Speaker, Edwin Poots, as he welcomed him to Parliament Buildings in advance of talks with the main Northern Ireland parties.

And above all, there were smiles from the new prime minister, fresh off the plane from Scotland on the latest leg of his post-victory tour of the UK.

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The Great Hall at Stormont was quite the change of backdrop compared with the last prime ministerial visit in May, when the now former prime minister Rishi Sunak – prophetically, as it turned out - chose to launch his election campaign against the backdrop of the Titanic’s shipyard.

The message from Starmer was clear. The gimmicks were out; here was a man who was keen to get down to business.

His priority since taking office has been the “reset” of relationships across the Irish Sea. In Belfast at least, early phone calls have now been followed up by this face-to-face visit, and he and Taoiseach Simon Harris are due to meet next week.

Keir Starmer pledges to work for stability in Northern Ireland and different way of doing politics. Video: Getty/ PA

This is the shape of things to come, Starmer told reporters. “I said I’d bring a different approach if I was elected into office, and today I’ve been able to match those words with actions, and I sincerely hope that being here on day three of the new Labour government makes clear my commitment.”

The instability of recent years “ends today”, he pledged. “The biggest difference with the Conservative Party is we’ll have stability, we’ll have collaboration, we’ll have respect.”

This was the sort of message the parties had been longing to hear.

Sinn Féin president Mary Lou McDonald compared working with Labour rather than the Conservatives “as the daylight to the dark”, while SDLP leader Colum Eastwood talked of the “collective sigh of relief” at the “new dawn”.

The discussions covered all the big issues – funding for public services, especially health, as well as fiscal and political reform, Casement Park and the Troubles legacy. Starmer and his team know expectations are high and some of this, at least, must be delivered on soon.

The goodwill continued. DUP leader Gavin Robinson emerged from his meeting saying he “liked” Starmer and described him as a “unionist”, though his biggest smile was reserved for a question on Lou McDonald’s earlier assertion that there would be a Border poll by 2030.

“Right,” he said, breaking into a wide grin. “We have heard plenty like that before, and we’re still waiting.”

During its meeting, Sinn Féin cited the example of last week’s election results in Northern Ireland – which made it the largest Northern party in Westminster – as evidence “all is changed here and changing” and the UK government could no longer “bury your head in the sand” on the question of a Border poll.

Starmer was sensible; he knows Northern Ireland, and knows what a minefield such questions can be. He played it safe: he emphasised his commitment to the framework set out in the Belfast Agreement and said the UK government would be an “honest broker”.

It was yet more evidence of the changed tone of this new government, and a change for Starmer himself.

In opposition, he said he would campaign for Northern Ireland to remain part of the UK, but as prime minister he knows that, given his avowed commitment to the Belfast Agreement, he cannot. As more than one observer has remarked over the last few days, “this is grown-up politics”.