Letter: Ongoing calls for clarity over when to call a Northern Ireland border poll are just an excuse to keep the subject in the news
A letter from Thomas Stewart:
Once again there are calls, this time by the Alliance Party, for the secretary of state to clarify how he will decide when to call a border poll.
The answer is as obvious as the nose on their face. There are only two measures he can use: election results and polling surveys. Even then it will be a judgement call which will displease one side or the other.
These so-called clarification calls result in endless circular discussions in the media and conclude nothing. They remind me of philosophers who stir a clear pool of water with their finger and then wonder why it’s muddy.
The real reason for this feigned confusion over the secretary of state’s role is that it keeps discussion of a border poll in the news which is just what republicans want.
Thomas Stewart, Belfast