Kelly accuses DUP of ‘gross betrayal’ of local people

SDLP leader Colum Eastwood MP and deputy leader Minister Nichola Mallon MLA have written to Prime Minister Boris Johnson this morning following further threats to devolved government.

The SDLP has reminded the British Government of its obligations to the people of Northern Ireland as co-guarantor of the Good Friday Agreement and under the Withdrawal Agreement.  

Upper Bann MLA Mrs Kelly said: “The actions of the DUP leadership represent a gross betrayal of people in Northern Ireland.

“Whatever community you’re from, whatever your background or beliefs, no one benefits from this cynical, and totally predictable, electioneering stunt.”

She continued: “Diane Dodds and Jonathan Buckley need to explain to people in our community, people who are struggling to cope with rising energy bills and to put food on the table, those and their loved ones who are facing an eternity on hospital waiting lists, people who are struggling to access a decent education for their children, why the DUP has done this at a critical juncture for politics here. The truth is that for the DUP, the party will always come first and ordinary people come last.

“This DUP drama has been concocted by Jeffrey Donaldson as a last desperate attempt to resuscitate their flagging poll numbers ahead of an Assembly election in May. We’ve come to expect shameless stunts from the DUP but putting ordinary people in the firing line is unforgivable.

“People deserve better than a choice between bad government or no government. That has been the cycle of the last 15 years and it has delivered nothing but failure. It is time to break that cycle and offer people a different choice.