SDLP leader and Foyle MP Colum Eastwood,
The Foyle MP said that the continued uncertainty around Brexit for communities and businesses in the North of Ireland, coupled with the challenges of the Covid-19 crisis, is becoming an unmanageable burden.
Said Mr Eastwood: “The Comprehensive Spending Review unveiled by the Chancellor today is bleak, not just because of the Covid-19 crisis and the associated economic forecasts but as a direct result of the political decisions that this Conservative Government has taken.
“It takes some brass neck to stand at your door every week during the summer clapping for key workers only to freeze their pay during the winter.
“But it clearly demonstrates that when the going gets tough, this government will throw those who have contributed the most during this crisis under the bus while handing out lucrative contracts to their friends and a favoured few.
“The decision to reduce the foreign aid budget also speaks to the narrow priorities of Johnson and Sunak.
“At a time when we need to be pulling together as a global community, when barriers and borders should mean less than helping those most in need, the British Government is pulling up the drawbridge.
“It’s a disgraceful dereliction of duty.
“And it is now clear that the Shared Prosperity Fund, the enigmatic replacement for EU structural funds will be controlled through Whitehall rather than the devolved administrations.
“Instead of meeting the genuine needs of people in Derry, Edinburgh or Cardiff, it will be used for fantasy Boris Bridges that no one wants or asked for.
“That is a power grab that Ministers across these islands have warned against.
“But most importantly there is very little in this spending review that will provide comfort to people or businesses in Northern Ireland preparing for the worst kind of Brexit settlement in a few weeks.
“Whether it’s car dealers unsure of the scale of the tax increase they’ll be compelled to pay or supply chain operators still waiting on clarification on transport and logistics rules, we are facing a series of crises that need to be resolved.
“Another spending review that misses the mark and fails to deliver on the priorities of people here.”
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