DUP Call For Sinn Féin Grant To Be Withdrawn

State funds given to Sinn Fein for research and policy work at Westminster should be withdrawn, the DUP has said.

Under a scheme designed for parties that do not sit in the chamber Sinn Féin receive an annual grant of £100,000.

However, north Belfast DUP MP Nigel Dodds has said that the money was hard to justify as the party do not take their parliamentary seats.

"We think that it is wrong and there's a cross-party view among many of the parties in Westminster that it is wrong and that needs to be addressed," he said.

"I think there is a growing view that given the clampdown on the waste of taxpayers' money generally across the public sector and, indeed, public expenditure, that people are fed up by the situation."

The issue is due to be raised at a debate in Westminster later on Tuesday.

Mr Dodds said the debate would highlight what he considered a "ludicrous and farcical" situation.

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