The current political crisis has demonstrated that the DUP and Sinn Féin can't share power and work together in the interests of the people of Northern Ireland, SDLP leader Colum Eastwood said on Wednesday at the publication of his party's manifesto.
Voters had a choice on March 2nd of "more of the same" or "partnership and progress", Mr Eastwood said at the Theatre at the Mill in Newtownabbey on the outskirts of north Belfast.
The SDLP leader said the “DUP had run rings around Sinn Féin” and that “Sinn Féin was always second to the breaking ball”.
On the "cash for ash" fiasco he added that DUP leader Arlene Foster could not be First Minister "while under a cloud of scandal".
“If they can’t work with each other, then they can’t work for you and your family. They can’t work for the common good. The price of their failure has cost the North far too much for far too long,” he said of the DUP and Sinn Féin, and their respective leaders Arlene Foster and Michelle O’Neill.
“Here in Northern Ireland, at the very moment when we most needed stability and certainty, our own government has collapsed and doubt remains as to whether the institutions can be put back together again,” he said. “If direct rule is the result delivered by Arlene and Michelle it will take a long time to bring back our devolved institutions. We know from history that bringing the institutions down is the easy part – getting them up and running again will be much more difficult,” he added. “Devolution belongs to the people – it should not be removed because some parties are not capable of the challenge and the compromise of being in government.”
He said the SDLP wanted to be back in the Northern Executive. “We need to elect the middle ground; we need to reassert the middle ground,” he said.
Asked about transferring votes to the Ulster Unionists he said, "People should vote for change and transfer for change and inevitably that will mean transferring across community lines."
Mr Eastwood said that if people wanted an end to scandals such as the Renewable Heat Incentive debacle – which could result in an overspend of almost half a billion pounds – if they wanted political change and nationalists and unionists to properly share power, then they must “come out and vote for it”.
Special status
On Brexit he called for special status for Northern Ireland and recognition of how a majority of people in the North – 56 per cent – voted to remain in the EU.
“We must not lose sight that Brexit remains the biggest threat to the economic, social and political interests of these islands. Northern Ireland is the most exposed of any part of these islands and yet our voice faces the risk of being sidelined and silenced,” he said. “That is why in this election and beyond we need parties that are capable of working together and capable of overcoming difference to give voice to our common interests.”
He said special status should comprise, “Northern Ireland’s membership of the European single market and the four freedoms it provides: free movement of people, goods, services and capital”.
Mr Eastwood said “we must take the politics out of health altogether” and called for “cross-party consensus on a comprehensive and measurable plan to get patients off waiting lists and into treatment plans that address their specific needs”.
The manifesto proposes an emergency health budget, implementation of the recent Bengoa report to reform the health service, appointing a junior Minister for Mental Health, a cancer strategy and a suicide prevention Bill.
The SDLP leader also called for the “rebalancing of employment in favour of the highest value-added sectors” such as agri-food, manufacturing and small- to medium-sized enterprises.
Third-level focus
Mr Eastwood said that close to four out of ten young people travel to Britain for higher education and that two-thirds never return. He proposed a stronger third-level focus on Stem subjects – science, technology, engineering and maths – and an increase in employer-led apprenticeships to try to keep more young people and greater talent in Northern Ireland.
Mr Eastwood also proposed the establishment of a “strong start fund” for households with zero savings that would provide £250 when a child is born and £250 when they were ten, with the money to be held in a junior, tax-free savings account.
He proposed a comprehensive childcare system and a reform of social care to improve preventative and minor intervention services that will reduce long-term costs and increase quality of life for Northern Ireland’s ageing population.
Mr Eastwood also called for an anti-poverty strategy and said he is seeking to reduce the number of special advisers and introduce legislation that would "regulate their conduct and salaries". He called for the creation of special Stormont committees on Brexit and welfare, "political donation transparency" and a lobbying Bill that would include a register of lobbying activity.
SDLP manifesto main points
• Special EU status for Northern Ireland after Brexit.
• Emergency health budget.
• Job creation focused on higher value employment.
• Dealing with legacy of the Troubles.
• A comprehensive childcare system.
• An anti-poverty strategy.
• Strengthen and expand North-South arrangements.
• Compensation for victims as proposed in Historical Institutional Abuse report.
• An Irish language Act.
• Stronger PSNI/Garda co-operation to tackle organised crime.
