๐ก๐๐๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ฐ๐๐ ๐ฒ๐ณ% ๐ถ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ป “๐ฒ๐
๐๐ฟ๐ฒ๐บ๐ฒ ๐ฝ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐” ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ ๐ก๐ผ๐ฟ๐๐ต – ๐๐ผ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ ๐ฃ๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐๐ ๐ญ๐ฝ๐บ ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฟ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐ ๐๐๐ถ๐น๐ฑ๐ต๐ฎ๐น๐น ๐ฆ๐พ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ
People Before Profit Cllr Shaun Harkin said,
“The 67% rise in ‘extreme poverty’ predicted for the North in the National Institute of Economic and Social Research report is alarming beyond description.
Derry already has 30% of people living below the poverty line – so the impact will be felt disproportionally here.
The reckless opportunism of the DUP only exposes the criminally inadequate response from government, business and regulators to the cost of living crisis.
The wealth of the super-rich and many corporations increased vastly during the pandemic – and they continue to see their profits and riches multiply now. However, workers and the least well-off are being forced to carry the economic burden of the pandemic.
When the Tories slashed Universal Credit, the Executive shrugged its shoulders. When workers asked for a pay rise, the Executive imposed pay cuts.
The Executive parties have ignored calls to declare a Hardship Emergency and refuse to support the demand for a new Wealth Tax on the super-rich and big corporations.
It’s one law for elites and another for the rest.
We need a systematic challenge to the inaction of the Stormont Executive parties.
We can’t allow the Stormont political establishment to corral us into the ghetto of sectarian division while they abandon all our communities to destitution.
No one should put any stock in promises political establishment parties make for what they’ll deliver after the 5 May election or in a New Ireland.
We need to take collective action all across the island to demand hardship funding, real pay rises, energy price caps and redistribution of wealth from the top to the bottom.
We urge people to back the Cost of Living Crisis protest organised by Derry Against Fuel Poverty at 1pm this Saturday in Guildhall Square.”
