Economic focus for new SDLP candidate

He pledged to work for renewed investment in North Antrim and to build on a strong foundation of SMEs in the local economy.

Mr. Duncan said: “The SDLP are ambitious for our young people. Lowering Corporation Tax alone is not the silver bullet promised by the DUP and Sinn Fein. Reducing it in isolation would cost us millions with little benefit. Investors want a skilled workforce and infrastructure fit for purpose. We will increase university places and funding to colleges, apprenticeships and skills training. To do anything else is the height of economic illiteracy.

“We will also be ambitious in developing new ways to create jobs. We will provide a blueprint to build a new tourism and hospitality sector in North Antrim, harnessing the popularity of sites like Slemish, Rathlin Island and the North Antrim Coast. We will support working parents with more free childcare and remain steadfast in our defence of healthcare provision for rural communities. The centralisation of key health services to urban centres will create a two tier healthcare system with rural communities at the bottom.

“We cannot allow a return to the default dysfunction of the DUP/Sinn Fein coalition which has brought disaffection and disappointment for the people of North Antrim.”