There has never been much doubt that the British Labour party leader Sir Keir Starmer, as both his title and his overall track record would imply, is an instinctive unionist.
Mr Starmer is of course perfectly entitled to his opinion but it needs to be remembered that, barring a political earthquake of enormous proportions, he is going to be the next UK prime minister.
He is likely to take office next year at a stage when the pressure on the British government to clarify the circumstances in which an Irish border poll can follow will never have been stronger.
Mr Starmer displayed questionable judgment by announcing last year that, in the event of a referendum, he would campaign on the unionist side, and by way of explanation said: “I believe in the United Kingdom.”
There will be considerable support for his predecessor as Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, who suggested, in an interview in yesterday's Irish News, that Mr Starmer should `stay out of the debate'.
Mr Corbyn said that, under the terms of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, the British prime minister was expected to be neutral if a date is agreed for a unity referendum.
He was fully entitled to point out that the prospect of Irish unity was “far higher now than it's been at almost any time in my lifetime", and to propose that a future Labour secretary of state should spell out the criteria for a referendum.
Mr Corbyn, who was suspended from the Labour Party in 2020 and now sits as the independent MP for Islington in north London, also argued convincingly that the Irish government needs to be proactive in preparing for the removal of the border.
It will be noted that Mr Starmer, with a massive lead in the opinion polls, has managed to avoid making commitments in a range of other areas, and has largely remained silent on the incalculable damage which the Brexit debacle has caused to his country.
There can only be surprise that he has decided to take such an apparently firm stance on an issue which will put him at odds with large sections of his own party during a crucial period.
At the very least, Mr Starmer should declare that, regardless of his personal views on the union, he will set out publicly once and for all how an historic referendum which allows nationalists, unionists and the unaligned to decide their constitutional future can be called.
