Eastwood: Johnson unengaged and uninterested in North

SDLP Leader Colum Eastwood has criticized British Prime Minister Boris Johnson over his lack of engagement in the North of Ireland since violence erupted over the past few weeks.

And he has called out the NI Secretary of State Brandon Lewis over the claim that SDLP representatives have made ‘incendiary remarks’ on Twitter.

At Northern Ireland Questions the Foyle MP asked: “Given the Prime Minister’s very speedy response to an issue about football, as important as that is, compared to his response and the quickness of his response, in terms of violence on the streets of Northern Ireland for almost 10 days, does the Secretary of State agree with me, that we need an active, engaged and interested Prime Minister in terms of dealing with our peace process?”

Following remarks made by the Secretary of State, Mr Eastwood said:

“During Northern Ireland Questions, the Secretary of State accused members of my party of making incendiary remarks on Twitter.

“He should know by now that words in this chamber have an implication on the streets.

“We’ve seen it too many times.

“As someone who has been sitting in his ivory tower during all this trouble, when the rest of us were on the street, toe to toe with the men of violence he should clarify his remarks.”

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