Irish nationalists and democrats in England, Scotland and Wales support the right of the whole of the Irish people to self-determination. Opposed to this are successive British governments, the Labour Party, the Tory Party and various parties of Irish unionists. When the Labour Party called for a united Ireland, they did so on the basis of the 'consent' of the British-Irish. All those backing British imperialism solemnly declare that the British-Irish should not be 'forced' into a united Ireland against their will. A united Ireland must be voluntary.
Consistent democrats defend and support the right of the Irish people to self-determination.
We must totally oppose the bogus pseudo-democratic arguments of the protestant veto. This means concretely that we are for an all-Ireland referendum to settle the question of the British presence. This democratic demand must be central to communist agitation, whether the IRA is engaged in armed struggle or not. But British Marxists have tended to ignore this democratic demand either by simply supporting the armed struggle or supporting the consent of the British-Irish. We have the example of the 1918 general election as a substitute referendum.