The first British Labour Government and the Irish Boundary Commission 1924
Before Labour first came to power in Britain in January, 1924, the party had been in favour of self-determination for Ireland and had been anti-partition. But once elected – as a minority Government under Ramsay MacDonald – its main aim was to demonstrate to the British public its ability to govern and its constitutional trustworthiness. So it adopted a bi-partisan approach to Irish affairs, maintaining its predecessors’ policy.
Immediately, the new Government found itself faced with the establishment of the Boundary Commission charged (under Article 12 of the 1921 Anglo-Irish Treaty) with fixing the line of demarcation between the new Irish Free State and the six North-Eastern counties.
The Northern Unionists, distrusting the new regime, refused to appoint their representative to the Commission (which was also to have a Free State and a British representative). The Unionists were also insisting on unanimity of decision within the Commission – while the Free State required majority decision to be sufficient. When the determination of these points was eventually put to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, the decision went in the Government’s favour.
Nevertheless the Government enacted legislation to this effect (The Irish Free State [Confirmation Of Agreement] Act). Even though it feared the Bill being thrown out in the Lords (and a consequent Election), the more potent fears were that the British government might be seen as reneging on the 1921 Treaty; that (in the words of W. T. Cosgrave) “the Dail would become a revolutionary Parliament” – and that Britain would once again become embroiled in hostilities in Ireland. In Parliament, the Government repeatedly referred to the Treaty as a most binding commitment.
When, however, the Boundary Commission got to work and ultimately reported within the year – making few modifications to the existing border ( and those involving transfers of land to the North) – major issues remained unresolved. Finally, on 8th December 1925 the Supplementary Agreement To The Treaty Act allowed the 1920 border to remain in place. (The abolition of the Council of Ireland also followed – power being devolved to Dublin and Belfast). Labour, now in opposition, approved.
The British Labour Party, then, which had started out with Irish sympathies, ended up copper-fastening partition. In office, it played things straight down the middle – equally disabusing Unionists of their fears and nationalists of their hopes.
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