Carroll To Dup: “Pull The Plug On May Over Bombardier”

With Bombardier jobs in East Belfast under threat following a proposed hike in tariffs imposed by the Trump administration, People Before Profit’s Gerry Carroll is calling on the DUP to pull support from Theresa May’s Tory government over their lack of action.

“If the DUP are serious at all about saving Bombardier jobs in East Belfast, they should pull support for the Tories at Westminster.Theresa May has done next to nothing to save the Bombardier jobs at risk across the UK. The Tory attempts to intervene include a phonecall to Trump and a pathetically short 4 page submission to the US ITC, which spends much of it’s first paragraphs lamenting over the US UK relationship.”

“Clearly Theresa May wants a US trade deal post Brexit and is putting any deal ahead of livelihoods of Bombardier workers in the North. It is shameful to think of how people were affected by the rapid decline in the manufacturing industry here and now more workers could be thrown on the scrapheap while the DUP stand by Theresa May’s inaction.”

“Many of jobs at risk are based in the DUP’s Gavin Robinson’s constituency. Where is his outrage? In October he said that the British government has “a lot of cards to play in their deck” but so far he has done little to force their hand. Worse, there has been no mention of Bombardier jobs as part of the talks process at Stormont. I’m calling on Gavin today to pull his support from May’s government and push his colleagues to bring the Bombardier jobs onto the table during the renewed talks.”

“There’s no doubt that the loss of these jobs will have a knock on effect for the community around it, and for the economy here as a whole. The DUP claim to represent the working class people of East Belfast but their inaction here speaks louder than words. Unless they stop propping up a government that is doing little to protect livelihoods  and jobs, then they will continue to fail the people they claim to represent.”