Debate contribution: Constitutional Change

Debate contribution by Mr Gerry Carroll on 18 May 2026.

MLA

Mr Gerry Carroll

Party at the time

People Before Profit Alliance

Date

18 May 2026

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Opposition Business

Heading

Constitutional Change

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 5548160

Read the official Assembly record

Text

With the recent election results in England, Scotland and Wales, it is clear that the Labour Party is presiding over a disastrous time in office. The Labour Party was elected in 2024 — the turnout, it must be said, was historically low — in the hope that it would be different from the corruption-riddled, rich-backing, austerity-addicted Tory party. However, in some ways, the Labour Party has been worse. It promised change and that things could be different, but it has done sod all. In many cases, it has made situations, such as the fuel payment scandal, to name but one, worse. Obviously, part of the story of the council elections — I emphasise that it is just part of the story — is the increase in votes and seats for the Reform party. The motion rightly expresses concern at the rise of right-wing views as expressed by Reform UK. It is extremely concerning, and it should be a wake-up call for anybody who was not paying attention. Whilst it is not inevitable, it is certainly likely that Reform will be the next Government in Westminster. Farage's politics are toxic, racist and divisive, and people should see through them. It has to be said that the reason why he is in the position that he is in is that he and his arguments have been bolstered over the years by most mainstream coverage of many issues, such as migration or asylum seekers. I want to state quite clearly that migrants are not a problem and should not be seen as a problem. They should be neither seen nor presented in this House or anywhere else as a drain on society or resources. They are net contributors to our society, financially, socially and culturally. In my view and that of many people, Keir Starmer should shoulder a lot of the blame for Farage and the rise of Reform. He has tried to cloak himself in the Union Jack, quite literally, and has repeated some of the talking points of Nigel Farage. He also had the shameful audacity to quote and echo Enoch Powell in speeches. He knew what he was doing. He got called out and tried to backtrack. I suspect that Nigel Farage was rubbing his hands when he heard that speech. The Labour movement in Britain was built by all sorts of nationalities, as was Britain itself: obviously, by people who are British; by the countless generations of Irish people who built homes, railways and buildings across Britain; and by people from the Caribbean, Pakistan, Africa and many more places. Shame on Keir Starmer for many things, and he should be ashamed of that dog-whistle politics as well.

The motion references growing support for a united Ireland. That is an important and welcome phenomenon. Despite what Members to my right have said, people are breaking from old traditions, and more are now open to, or are certainly considering, the possibility of a united Ireland. That is positive and welcome, but I have some concerns about the motion. I ask the SDLP to elaborate on what it means by constitutional change needing to be "carefully managed". I do not know what that means, and I would be wary of taking such an approach, which sounds like quite a timid form of politics. This is a time when we need bold politics. We need a vision for a workers' republic in the 21st century.

Yes, I will give way.

I asked that question of the proposer of the motion. It risks adopting a political approach in which we just merge the Northern and Southern states, with Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael-type politics dominating, which would be very detrimental to people on the island. We need to have a positive vision. All the i's cannot be dotted and all the t's crossed beforehand, but we could have some general principles about what a united Ireland could look like, which might include having an all-Ireland, publicly funded NHS; not supporting the US military going through Belfast International Airport, Shannon Airport or anywhere else; ending the empty homes scourge that sees hundreds of thousands of homes across the island, North and South, not being used while there is a homelessness crisis; and not being the bedfellow of US and other corporations. The SDLP's obsession with Reform was mentioned, but I will leave it up to its Members to respond to that. I will say, however, that Jonny Farage has a bit of an obsession with the Green Party. He mentioned it an awful lot. I remind the Member that such an obsession is not really good for his health.

774 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

Not flagged

Jev’s structured answers

Assessed 21 October 2026 at 15:32 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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