TUV Responds to Border Poll Developments
22 January 2013
Statement by TUV Leader Jim Allister:"Whether the DUP's lurch towards meeting Sinn Fein's demand for a border poll is stunt politics or a thought out strategy, it certainly doesn't grapple with the statutory reality which dictates the only circumstances in which a border poll can be held.
"The legislation is very clear. As a condition precedent to the calling of any such poll the Secretary of State must believe the outcome would likely provide an Irish unity majority. The legislation is clear: "the Secretary of State shall exercise the power under paragraph 1 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."
"Is the DUP seriously suggesting the Secretary of State should be so satisfied, not forgetting that a poll can then trigger successive polls every 7 years - a recipe for constitutional instability?
"Unless the Secretary of State is satisfied a majority to leave the UK is likely, which seems fantasy, then, there is no legislative basis whereby a referendum can be held. It would require legislative amendment to permit a referendum without the strings attached of anticipating a vote in favour of destruction of the UK.
"We are part of the UK, some tell us the Union has never been safer, so a referendum premised on expecting change and triggering a series of referenda, does not seem sensible or stabilising politics."
