17 November 2025
SDLP Opposition Communities Spokesperson Mark H Durkan MLA has accused Sinn Féin of gaslighting the public with their cost of living motion in the Assembly on Monday.
He said the biggest party in the Executive should take some responsibility for their failure to deal with the issue.
Foyle MLA Mark H Durkan said:
“For the past few years we have seen the cost of living increase massively for families across the North. Bills have gotten higher, the essentials have become more and more expensive and treats have become rarer and rarer. At the same time people’s salaries have stalled, making it harder for people to keep their heads above water.
“The previous and current UK Governments must bear some responsibility for the harm their policies have caused here, but it’s frankly insulting to see this motion being brought forward by Sinn Féin. The uncomfortable truth is that they and their Executive colleagues have the power to change things for the better here and introduce mitigations for people – and most of the time they chose not to.
“Whether it’s the failure to support costed SDLP Opposition proposals to remove the two-child welfare cap or the half-baked anti-poverty strategy that was rejected by community and voluntary organisations. All too often this Executive is failing people and no amount of meaningless gaslighting motions will change that.”