Both Sinn Féin and the DUP “lack the least shred of credibility” on the issue of welfare reform, according to NI Conservatives’ spokesman, Mark Brotherston.
“Hard working people in Northern Ireland face losing their jobs and receiving much worse public services because Sinn Féin and the DUP can’t decide on the future of our welfare system”, Mark noted. “Neither party can muster a credible line on the issue. Sinn Féin refuses to acknowledge the need for any reform at all and wants to condemn many people in Northern Ireland to a life of dependency on benefits. It seems to think it can simply wish the responsibilities of government away, by refusing to make any changes to the status quo and also refusing to spell out which services it would cut to maintain a failed system.”
“Meanwhile the DUP pretends that it opposes welfare reform, but has been obliged by the Westminster government to implement it. Let’s be clear, the Stormont Executive has complete responsibility for welfare in Northern Ireland and can choose to have its own system, if it is absolutely determined to break parity. If the Executive decides to take that route, then, of course, it will have to cut other services dramatically in order to pay for its decision. These are the basic choices which governments in every other jurisdiction have to make daily.”
“This is a matter of the executive parties refusing to fulfil their basic responsibilities. Stormont would be very unwise to break parity and refuse to implement welfare reform, but the DUP and Sinn Féin can’t keep ducking the decision and blaming everyone else. This is their responsibility, it’s their mess and they are the ones who are putting jobs and the economy at risk by refusing to have an open and honest debate about the type of benefits system which Northern Ireland needs for the future.”