Politicians in North of Ireland press Starmer on fuel costs

As Keir Starmer visited the North of Ireland on 12 March, local politicians laid bare the impact of rising fuel costs. Many in the North use heating oil and this has seen disproportionate price rises following the US / Israeli attacks on Iran.

Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald T.D led a party delegation to meet with Starmer. She was accompanied by deputy leader Michelle O’Neill MLA, and Pat Cullen MP. McDonald said:

As we approach the thirtieth anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement peace is secure, and our national journey is towards Irish unity which requires political leadership.

Speaking in Belfast, McDonald said:

At today’s meeting between Sinn Féin and the prime minister we raised the growing crisis in relation to rising fuel, home heating, and energy price rises, which is bearing down hard on workers and families.

Given the financial constraints on the Executive budget, there needs significant intervention from the British government and it needs to happen urgently.

We raised the illegal occupation, annexation and continuing genocide in Gaza which remains dire, and the magnitude and scale of the crisis in the Middle East. The international community stands idly by and the British government is arming Israel.

We called on the prime minister to stand on the right side of history. The threat to peace and stability as a result of the wholesale breaching of international rule of law by Israel and the US is deeply worrying.

The human impact is colossal, and we must hold ground to reduce instability and rising militarisation. There must be an immediate ceasefire. Diplomacy and respect for International Law must have primacy.

Commenting on this week’s British Irish Summit she said:

This week’s British Irish summit is another important step in rebuilding relations and East-West co-operation, which was badly damaged under the Tories in pursuit of a hard Brexit.

The challenge for both the taoiseach and British prime minister is to open a new chapter in British-Irish relations, to recognise that as we approach the thirtieth anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement peace is secure, and our national journey is towards Irish unity which requires political leadership.

The long awaited publication of the Terms of Reference for the Pat Finucane Public Inquiry is welcome and which must now proceed without further delay after decades of determined and dignified campaigning by the Finucane family.

The prime minister must now act to establish a public inquiry into the murder of Sean Brown, the Bellaghy Wolfe Tones GAC chairman murdered in 1997. The British government is appealing recent court rulings that found its failure to establish a public inquiry into his murder to be incompatible with its obligations under Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

Sean Brown’s widow, Bridie, now 87, has waited too long for justice and this continued resistance to an inquiry is totally unacceptable. I put it directly to Keir Starmer that he should meet Bridie Brown, and to drop its appeal to the Supreme Court.

I have also raised this with the Taoiseach who must press the case with the prime minister in Cork and stand with the Brown family in their pursuit of truth and justice.

Gerry Carroll MLA, of the People Before Profit party, also commented on the skyrocketing home fuel costs:

Starmer and Reeves have repeatedly refused to step up and provide a package of financial support for households reeling from spiking oil prices.

Their promises to crack down on profiteering energy companies would be welcome – but for nearly two years, this Labour government has betrayed ordinary people time and time again, in favour of big business.

They’ve refused to fairly tax wealth and rolled out the red carpet for corporate lobbyists. Labour clearly don’t have the interests of working class communities at heart and cannot be trusted.

The Executive’s shambolic handling of this energy crisis is no better, with Sinn Féin and the DUP trading insults about a £81m fund for energy support that looks unlikely to reach the bank accounts of struggling households any time soon.

The fact remains that people in Britain look set to receive a £150 payment next month, with further payments set to follow. It’s completely unacceptable that people in the north will be left behind – especially given our heavy reliance on home heating oil.

Executive parties have a duty to step in where Starmer has failed, and implement price caps on energy costs and deliver meaningful financial support for people across the north, who are facing financial punishment as the result of an illegal and unprovoked war that nobody wants.

Featured image via Sinn Féin