Secretary Of State Unveils £12bn Budget

The Secretary of State has unveiled a £12 billion Westminster spending plan for Northern Ireland.

Karen Bradley made the announcement as NI has been without an Executive for over a year.

The budget includes £410 million of the £1bn secured by the DUP as part of its confidence and supply agreement.

Mrs Bradley said: "It had been my firm hope that a new Executive would be in place to set a budget.

"That will now not be possible in time for plans to be put in place for the forthcoming financial year.

"Yet there are acute pressures across public services to be addressed in 2018/19.

"And clarity is required now to enable planning to proceed for the year ahead. It is now imperative, therefore, that the UK Government provides clarity and certainty around Northern Ireland finances for 2018/19."

The budget delivers real-term increases in health and education spending and cash terms increases - below the rate of inflation - for justice, infrastructure and agriculture.

All other departments will see their allocation maintained at the same level or decreased.

SDLP Finance Spokesperson Claire Hanna said the budget puts the DUP in the "driving seat".

She said: "This is a direct rule budget from London directed by the DUP. While the SDLP recognises the need for a budget to be set to keep public services afloat – a budget for local people and local services should be set in Stormont not in Westminster.

"This budget presents more questions than answers. Primarily, how can it be acceptable that the DUP Confidence and Supply is allocated to departments without any political accountability?

"This budget puts the DUP in the driving seat. The failure of the DUP and Sinn Fein to restore power-sharing has given London and the DUP a free hand in our affairs. We have reached a very difficult and distressing point. The London Government should not underplay the seriousness of the situation our politics finds itself in.

"The SDLP Leader Colum Eastwood put a proposal on the table to break the deadlock by using the Good Friday Agreement to reconvene the British and Irish Intergovernmental Conference – yet neither Governments nor the DUP and Sinn Fein seem willing to find solutions.

"Direct Rule from London under the direction of the DUP is not a solution – it undermines the very fabric of our politics and the spirit of power sharing that underpins it."

Sinn Fein MLA Máirtín Ó Muilleoir said the budget was "disappointing".

He said it is tough on householders and is "not good for our economy".

"This budget is tough on victims. There is no money here to fund legacy inquests or to start addressing the HIA issue," he said.

"The much-heralded 'additional' DUP money is not additional at all but is being used to plug gaps due to continuing cuts to our budgets by the British Government – with, of course, the full agreement of the DUP."

(CD/LM)