Naomi Long warned that the powersharing institutions in Belfast remain as fragile now as they were just prior to their last collapse
Labour must "shift the dial" on reforming Stormont 's devolved structures if it wins the General Election, the leader of the Alliance Party has said.
Since 2017, both Sinn Fein and the DUP have pulled the plug on powersharing, meaning Northern Ireland has been without a devolved government for five of the last seven years. Alliance never contemplated stepping aside in any constituencies. Ms Long said the party is committed to giving all voters the opportunity to vote for something "distinctive and different" to traditional orange/green politics.
However, Alliance insists the structures no longer reflect modern-day Northern Ireland and wants changes to voting systems within both the Assembly chamber and at the Executive table to ensure votes cast by MLAs who consider themselves neither unionist nor nationalist are given the same weight as others.
"So Stormont needs reassurance that it's going to continue because people are optimistic for the future," she said. She added: "I think what's happened, generally speaking, is when secretaries of state have left Northern Ireland, they have said with the benefit of hindsight that they should have done more on reform.""Of course, there will be caution. I have spoken with the Irish Government about this as well, because they are very much a part of the discussion around reform."
"The change in culture in Northern Ireland has been incredible. And yet that's not reflected in institutions that still see everything very much as black and white, green and orange, unionist and nationalist, and nothing else. Northern Ireland is a very different place and the institutions need to be able to flex to represent that challenge that we have now."
Alliance Party DUP Sinn Fein Conservative Party Labour Party Naomi Long East Belfast North Down Stormont
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