‘If you’re not there, you don’t count’ – SDLP leader criticises absentee MPs

The public in Northern Ireland are sick of politicians who do not go to work, the leader of the SDLP has said.

Making a pitch to voters as he launched his party’s manifesto, Colum Eastwood criticised Sinn Fein’s long-standing abstentionist policy while also highlighting damage caused to public services in Northern Ireland by the two recent collapses of devolution – one triggered by Sinn Fein, the other by the DUP.

Mr Eastwood predicted that Sinn Fein may ultimately show “common sense” and drop its abstentionist stance in the future.

He insisted “if you’re not there, you don’t count” as he urged voters to back his party to go to Westminster to “stand up and speak up” for their local constituents.

Speaking at the manifesto event in Londonderry, the Foyle candidate characterised Sinn Fein MPs as “absentee landlords” who are unable to exert any influence on behalf of those who elect them.

He told supporters he was aiming to retain the two seats the party held in the last parliament – his in Foyle and Claire Hanna’s in south Belfast – while it was also eyeing a potential gain from Sinn Fein in South Down.

“Some of our opponents are abstentionists,” he said.

“They’re very honest about it, they are very open about it. They have been that way for 100 years. Of course, they also used to not go to Dail Eireann or Stormont, or support the European Union. So maybe, some day, they’ll get common sense around abstentionism.

“My view is when I’m speaking to people on the doors, they want MPs to go to stand up to speak up for you. But the choice is very clear.”

He added: “You can either vote for people who don’t turn up and don’t go to work, and I think we’re just about sick of politicians not going to work, or you can vote for people who will roll their sleeves up, get in there and speak up and be your voice. It’s a simple choice.

“The reality is if you’re not there, you don’t count.”

During the event in Derry, Mr Eastwood spoke of the impact of “Brexit madness” on Northern Ireland and said the region’s finances had been “decimated” by “14 years of Tory brutal misrule”.

He said the health service was either at or past the point of collapse, with people being forced to go to credit unions to get the cash to pay for private treatments amid NHS waiting lists that would “embarrass third world countries”.

“Obviously we want to see a Labour government, but I’ve been let down before by Labour governments, and the only way to hold their feet to the fire is to have people from here sent there to keep them honest,” he said.

Mr Eastwood claimed it was the SDLP that secured a commitment in the Labour manifesto to repeal the UK Government’s contentious legacy laws that offer a form of limited immunity to perpetrators of Troubles crimes.

“We were able to get a commitment around scrapping the odious Legacy Act in the Labour manifesto – shadow Cabinet members can’t get much into the Labour manifesto these days,” he said.

“But I’m not happy with that, I’m not just going to accept that as a given. I’m going to go to Westminster, hold their feet to the fire and ensure it’s replaced with something that puts victims right at the heart, right at the centre of the reconciliation process that we need to be involved in.”

The SDLP leader told supporters not to take the large majorities secured by him and Ms Hanna in 2019 for granted.

“Don’t listen to what commentators are telling you, there are no big majorities, there are no sure things,” he said.

“If you want SDLP MPs to go to Westminster to speak up for you, you have to actually vote for them.”