THE DUP is aiming to win 10 seats in the Westminster elections which would give the party influence if the British general election were to result in a hung parliament, Peter Robinson said yesterday when launching his party’s election manifesto.
The DUP leader also repeated that he had acted properly in relation to the purchase and sale of a strip of land for £5 close to his home in east Belfast.
Mr Robinson defended powersharing with Sinn Féin and the other main parties in the Northern Executive, and the recent completion of devolution with the creation of a Department of Justice.
He said the Northern electorate had two choices on polling day on May 6th – “to do the easy thing, by walking away and risking drift back”, or “to do the right thing, of making Stormont work and keeping Northern Ireland moving forward. I urge voters not to do what is easy, but to do what is right for the whole community and the future of Northern Ireland,” said the First Minister.
He added: “Despite all the progress Northern Ireland has made there are still dangers that we could slip back. Terrorists want to drag us back. Some politicians would drag us back. Therefore, we make no apology for reminding people – indeed we consider it our duty to remind people – of the importance of endorsing the DUP strategy to move Northern Ireland forward.”
Nominations close at 4pm this evening, and Mr Robinson again appealed to the Ulster Unionists and Conservatives to agree with the DUP before then a unionist unity candidate to try to oust the SDLP’s Dr Alasdair McDonnell as MP for South Belfast.
Mr Robinson said opinion polls showed that a hung parliament was “more likely than ever”, which would “give Northern Ireland’s MPs the opportunity for an even greater role in Westminster and our nation’s affairs. This means every seat is essential for unionism and for Northern Ireland.”
The DUP won nine seats in the last general election, and was aiming for 10 seats this time which would mean the party could exploit in an “unfettered and united” way the opportunities a hung parliament would offer.
Mr Robinson said that the threat from the Traditional Unionist Voice party and its leader Jim Allister, who polled 66,000 votes in the European elections last year, was diminishing. “He is not the force he was during the European elections,” he said, adding that unionists were disenchanted with Mr Allister’s “negative” policies.
Mr Robinson adverted to how the 72-page manifesto covers 20 issues including jobs, education, health, crime and policing, Westminster reform and providing support for victims. Unlike in previous years, there is virtually no reference to the conflict or constitutional matters.
“This is the first time in the history of the DUP where we have been able to publish a manifesto that concentrated on the economy as the primary issue. This shows just how far we have come,” said the DUP leader.
Mr Robinson repeated that he derived no personal benefit from the purchase of a small strip of land beside his home in east Belfast for £5 from the late property developer Fred Fraser, or from selling it on for £5 to another developer who bought land for housing, including part of the Robinsons’ back garden, which they sold for almost £460,000 (€523,000).
The purchase and sale of the strip of land “facilitated a transfer from one developer to another so that the site could go ahead and my neighbours would also be able to benefit – it’s as simple as that, no story, no benefit at all,” said Mr Robinson.
DUP Manifesto Main Points
- Reducing corporation tax and a special low 5 per cent VAT rate to aid construction
- Creating a special economic zone status for Northern Ireland
- Reducing number of Stormont departments
- Opposing a bill of rights for Northern Ireland
- Providing support for loyal orders, bands and Ulster-Scots
- Reducing the regulatory burdens on businesses
- Promoting innovation
- Creation of vocational sector-specific training centres of excellence to produce more skilled workers and technicians
- Targeting disadvantage
- Putting more police officers on the beat
- Cutting cost of TV licences from £142.50 to £50
- Maximising Common Agriculture Policy payments to Northern Ireland