Editorial: Tory spokesman Alex Burghart falters in radio interview on border poll and failed to rule out nationalist demand for clarity

Northern Ireland had, under the Conservative governments from 2010, eight secretaries of state.

​A recurring problem was that many of them were either ill informed about Northern Ireland, or they did not even have anything approaching the knowledge that would be needed to tackle the institutional culture in the Northern Ireland Office.

There has been no strong culture in that department of promoting NI as an integral part of the UK, and little inclination to stand up to Ireland’s wholly partisan, Irish nationalist Department of Foreign Affairs. Some people within the NIO, such as advisors, have at times tried to take a slightly more robust line against the pushing of Republic of Ireland politicians and officials, but the overall record of 14 years of Conservative government was of inadequate pushback.

Will this ever change? On the contrary, under a Nigel Farage-led government the lack of institutional memory on Northern Ireland could well get worse.

Given that context, Alex Burghart has been an impressive shadow secretary of state for NI, at a time when the Tory Party for which he is an MP is greatly reduced in number and finances and is trying to stay on top of multiple complex national and global issues. He is the shadow chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, as well as the NI spokesperson.

His interview on Radio Ulster yesterday, however, was troubling. Mr Burghart suggested that a UK government would stay neutral in the event of a border poll (while the Tories would campaign for NI to stay). He also failed to rule out the nationalist demand for clarity on the circumstances in which such a poll would be held, as Hilary Benn has done. At one point, Mr Burghart said: “I'm speaking on my feet here, I reserve the right to think about it more deeply.”

He does have that right, and we trust he will use it.