SDLP publishes Cost of Living Action Plan
The SDLP has published a 6-point plan to address the soaring cost of living as rising fuel and energy bills hit people and families across the North.
The plan, which includes emergency legislation to unlock millions of pounds currently sitting in Stormont bank accounts, is designed to provide immediate relief to households as well as longer-term breaks on runaway profits generated by oil and gas companies.
SDLP South Down Assembly candidate councillor Karen McKevitt said the plan would help struggling families get through this extremely difficult period.
The latest figures from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation show that the poverty rate in the Newry Mourne and Down council area from 2017-2020 was 21%.
The End Child Poverty group found that in 2019/20 child poverty in the Newry, Mourne and Down council area stood at 26.3%.
Councillor McKevitt said the situation has likely become much worse given the pressures families are facing.
Councillor McKevitt said: “People and families in South Down and across the North are being hit again and again by rising energy bills and fuel costs. Working people who are doing their best to provide a decent quality of life for their families should not be faced with a horrendous choice between heating their home and buying groceries.
“It is shameful that in this day and age so many families are living below the poverty line. We have the highest levels of poverty of anywhere on these islands and the levels of child poverty are particularly shameful.
“In 2022 we really shouldn’t be in a situation where children are going without basic necessities, but this is the reality for many families in the North.
“The hard truth is that people in our communities have been badly let down by the DUP and by Jeffrey Donaldson’s withdrawal from the Executive. Pulling down the institutions has made addressing this crisis incredibly difficult.
“But it’s also extremely disappointing that Sinn Féin Ministers have yet to take action to help working people.
“Our Cost of Living Action Plan will provide immediate assistance to people who are being hit by rising prices by offering an emergency payment to every household of £200 and an additional £100 to low income families.
“This would be made possible by emergency legislation that would unlock the £300m sitting in Stormont bank accounts. It should shame the DUP that such a significant sum of money is lying dormant while people in our communities suffer the worst of this crisis.
“Other parties want this election to be about the protocol or the personal position they hold in government. For us, it is about addressing the biggest domestic crisis facing people and households across our communities. We are relentlessly focused on putting people first and providing help in any way we can.”
