Julian Smith: New secretary of state meets NI parties

Northern Ireland’s new secretary of state is holding separate meetings with all five of Stormont’s biggest parties with devolution high on the agenda.

Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald said she asked Julian Smith about a border poll and gave him a copy of the Good Friday Agreement, which he had read.

The SDLP and Ulster Unionists both said he must not be a “sop” to the DUP.

Mr Smith has previously worked closely with the DUP and he attended the party’s annual conference in 2017.

The DUP has considerable influence at Westminster due to its confidence and supply agreement which helps to keep the Conservative government in power.

Northern Ireland’s devolved government collapsed over two and half years ago and Mr Smith will be in charge of all-party talks to restore Stormont.

The Sinn Féin leader said she asked Mr Smith about the “threshold” for calling a poll on Irish reunification and told him she hoped he would be “the last British secretary of state”.

She said he took the remark “in good part”, adding he understood that would be the position of Irish republicans.

“We also presented him with a copy of the Good Friday Agreement,” Mrs McDonald said.

“He assured us that he had, in fact, read it and he’s re-reading it and we took some heart from that.”

She said the new secretary of state needed a “fair wind” to read himself into his brief but she warned that the current talks process “cannot stagger on indefinitely”.

Mrs McDonald said the DUP’s relationship with the Conservatives had “poisoned the water” in Northern Ireland and had conspired to prevent the return of devolution.

“He has committed that he will deal with all the parties on the basis of equality and impartiality,” she said, adding this would be “tested in the coming weeks”.

‘Yes man’

SDLP deputy leader Nichola Mallon said: “We went in with a very simple and direct question – is he going to be part of the solution or is he going to be part of the problem?

“There’s a clear concern that he’s been appointed as a ‘yes man’ to the DUP.”

The SDLP MLA added: “He undoubtedly has a close relationship with one party here and we pressed on him the importance of immediately challenging that and widening his understanding.”

She said she told Mr Smith that the Good Friday Agreement was “under serious threat” because of Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s approach to a potential no-deal Brexit.

Mr Johnson appointed the new secretary of state on Wednesday, after sacking his predecessor, Karen Bradley, whose time in office was widely criticised by all main parties.

Ms Mallon said “time will tell” if Mr Smith could do a better job than Mrs Bradley.

“We’re going to be very honest – if he’s not up to the job; if he’s part of the problem and not the solution then we will call it, because people across Northern Ireland deserve to know the truth.”

‘DUP sop’

Emerging from their brief meeting, Ulster Unionist MLA Doug Beattie said the introductory session had been “useful” and Mr Smith “needs time to put his feet under the table”.

However, Mr Beattie added: “We made it absolutely clear to him that, no matter what his relationship is with the DUP, he cannot be a sop to their tantrums.”

The UUP MLA warned the new secretary of state that he must not “ignore the smaller parties” in the talks aimed at restoring devolution, in favour of the two biggest parties – the DUP and Sinn Féin.

“He has to bang their heads together and he needs to get this process moving forward,” Mr Beattie said.

Julian Smith is MP for Yorkshire constituency of Skipton and Ripon.

Although he was previously the Conservative chief whip, Mr Smith is not widely known outside Westminster.

Tánaiste (Ireland’s deputy prime minister) Simon Coveney, is also due to meet Mr Smith in Belfast on Friday.

Mr Smith will also carry out a series of other engagements as he quickly tries to come to terms with a brief which will be dominated by Brexit and the need to restore devolution.

He backed Remain in the 2016 Brexit referendum.

As chief whip, he was unable to guide Theresa May’s proposed EU Withdrawal Agreement through the House of Commons.