Sunak and Starmer may not want to talk about Brexit, but these party leaders certainly do.
Five years ago it was undoubtedly the Brexit election, but this time it has become an issue that cannot be ignored.
But in Northern Ireland, no party leader is shy about talking about the impact of Brexit.
our By David Blevins, Senior Ireland Correspondent I spoke to them all about the impact of the 2016 referendum and how the new government in Westminster might change things.
As David points out, in order to “get Brexit done”, the Conservative government has established a trade border across the Irish Sea between Northern Ireland and Great Britain, something that would have been previously unthinkable.
Michelle O’Neill, Sinn Féin:
“With a Labour government on the horizon, I think we have an opportunity to reverse the damage caused by Brexit.”
“And in fact I would like to get to the point where we completely reverse the Brexit decision.
“That may not be the direction Labour is heading in, but I think there’s an opportunity to rebuild the relationship between London and Dublin because the relationship between the two countries has really broken down.”
Emma Little Pengelly, DUP:
“The Conservative Party and UK Government have botched Brexit and Northern Ireland has become a victim of this.
“We have made this point to the Conservative Party every step of the way.
“We have had to fight incredibly hard to undo the damage caused by decisions made by the Conservative government when it came into power.
“But of course we were the ones who fought for it, while others were instigating and pushing for the strict implementation of that really awful agreement.”
Naomi Long, Alliance:
“What we need to do now is figure out how to use the benefits of the Windsor Framework to our advantage.
“In terms of trade we are in a unique position in Northern Ireland. We can trade freely with the UK, we can trade freely with the Republic of Ireland but more than that we have a foothold in the European Union.”
Colum Eastwood, SDLP:
“I would argue that Brexit has been a disaster for the whole of the UK, economically and in many other ways, but the impact is felt more keenly here because the UK shares a border with the European Union.”
“After the chaos caused by Brexit, Boris Johnson and the DUP, it has taken a huge amount of work to get things stable again.
“From our point of view, there can be no better outcome than a full return to the European Union.”
Doug Beattie, UUP:
“Brexit was a defining moment.
“It completely undermined British unity, and I think you can still see the effects of that today.”
“And whatever government is formed, which we think will be a Labour government, I think the party will have to work on improving cohesion as one of its key deliverables.”
