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Belfast Live
Belfast Live
National
Brendan Hughes

Stormont failing to protect working people from soaring prices says People Before Profit

The Stormont Executive has failed to protect working people from soaring prices and spiralling hospital waiting lists, People Before Profit has said.

Launching their manifesto in Derry for May's Assembly election, the party argued their policies tackle the cost of living crisis "head on" unlike the "miserly offerings from the establishment".

Emergency £1,000 payments to households in need, fuel price and rent caps, and a £15 hourly minimum wage are among the proposals People Before Profit is pitching to the electorate.

Read more: Every candidate running for the Stormont Assembly

The party said their 36-page manifesto is "bursting with the radical solutions that are needed".

Shaun Harkin, People Before Profit election candidate in Foyle, said: "Unlike the miserly offerings from the establishment, the policies in our manifesto don't nibble at the edges of this cost of living crisis - they tackle it head on.

"£1,000 direct payments to households in need, alongside fuel price and rent caps, will provide an immediate safety net for the thousands who are struggling.

"Long-term, inflation-busting pay rises for workers, a £15 minimum wage for all ages, and expanded welfare payments are key policies designed to significantly better the lot of ordinary people.

“There is no doubt, the Stormont Executive has failed to protect working people from soaring prices and spiralling waiting lists.

"They have overseen stagnant wages, a punitive benefits system, soaring energy costs, and left £300million unspent. In a word, they have failed."

People Before Profit is running 12 candidates in the Assembly election, with the Foyle constituency among its target areas.

In the last Assembly poll in 2017 the party secured one MLA seat with the election of Gerry Carroll in West Belfast.

Their manifesto suggests funding for their policies could be "generated by imposing greater taxes on the wealthiest", but the plans are not fully costed in detail.

Mr Harkin said: "Recent years have shown socialists were right about many major issues, from the climate crisis, to the pandemic, to the fact that the money we're forever told doesn’t exist was there all along.

"We have an opportunity this election to get ahead of the curve, to implement the radical solutions necessary to protect working class communities now, to undo the years of damage to the health service, and to avert climate catastrophe.

"Now is the time for the plans contained in this manifesto, now is the time for a different kind of politics - now is the time for People Before Profit."

Read more: Every candidate running for the Stormont Assembly

Read more: Key points from TUV election manifesto

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