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Tag: Caoimhe Archibald

  • Caoimhe Archibald – 2022 Comments on £400 Energy Payments in Northern Ireland

    Caoimhe Archibald – 2022 Comments on £400 Energy Payments in Northern Ireland

    The comments made by Caoimhe Archibald, the Sinn Fein economy spokesperson in Northern Ireland, on 10 November 2022.

    It is now more than six months since people here were promised they would receive £400 to help them tackle soaring energy costs during the cold winter months.

    The DUP’s blockade of the Executive delayed getting this money out into people’s pockets earlier in the year.

    And despite former DUP economy minister Gordon Lyons promising people they would be getting the payment in November, this is looking increasingly unlikely.

    Yesterday British minister Steve Baker was unable to say when the payments will be made.

    That is simply unacceptable.

    People need this payment now as they struggle to heat their homes and we move deeper into winter.

    The British government need to get this money out the door as soon as possible and ensure that people can afford to put the heat on.

  • Caoimhe Archibald – 2022 Comments on Interest Rates Increase

    Caoimhe Archibald – 2022 Comments on Interest Rates Increase

    The comments made by Caoimhe Archibald, Sinn Fein’s economic spokesperson, on 3 November 2022.

    Because of the economic chaos unleashed by the Tories, today there has been the single biggest hike in interest rates in three decades.

    It’s a scandal that ordinary workers and families will now pay the price as mortgage payments go up and people struggle to keep a roof over their heads.

    Our future generations also face being frozen out of owning their own home because mortgages will be unattainable and mortgage payments will simply be unaffordable.

    The Tories have lined the pockets of the rich and the bankers and ignored the disastrous ramifications for households already trying to get through a difficult winter.

    The £400 energy payment that was promised to people months ago and held up because of the DUP’s cruel boycott of the Executive, must be paid now with no more delays.

    We need investment in our public services, support for public sector workers and immediate help to ensure the most vulnerable survive through the winter months.

    Energy companies and shareholders are walking off with bundles of cash and profits in the billions. It’s time to bring them down a peg through a Windfall Tax and redirect the money into the pockets of hardworking families.

  • Caoimhe Archibald – 2022 Comments on Energy Payments Support

    Caoimhe Archibald – 2022 Comments on Energy Payments Support

    The comments made by Caoimhe Archibald, the Sinn Fein’s economic spokesperson, on 1 November 2022.

    Back in May the former British Chancellor and now Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced the £400 energy bill support scheme. Nearly six months later people here still don’t know when they will receive this support.

    Due to the DUP’s boycott of the Executive, workarounds have had to be found to deliver this support.

    Weeks ago the former DUP Economy Minister Gordon Lyons said the payment would be made in one lump sum in November.

    It now appears that may not be the case, with the utility regulator today saying a different approach is being considered by British ministers.

    People need to know when and how both the £400 energy bill support scheme payment and the £100 payment to households relying on oil, will be made.

    It is unacceptable that ordinary workers and families would be punished further for the DUP’s failure to show up for work.

  • Caoimhe Archibald – 2022 Comments on the Dismissal of Kwasi Kwarteng

    Caoimhe Archibald – 2022 Comments on the Dismissal of Kwasi Kwarteng

    The comments made by Caoimhe Archibald, Sinn Fein’s Economic Spokesperson, on 14 October 2022.

    The Tories are now on their fourth Chancellor in four months as the fall-out of the reckless ‘mini-budget’ has resulted in Kwasi Kwarteng getting the sack.

    For the past three weeks since the announcement of the ‘mini-budget’ there has been utter chaos which will punish ordinary workers, families and businesses by pushing up mortgages and hiking business borrowing costs.

    It has been clear for some time that Liz Truss and the Tory government needs to scrap this plan, end their shameless policy of lining the pockets of the rich and halt the attack on our public services.

    Instead, they should support workers, families and small businesses who are struggling and introduce a windfall tax to cut the eye-watering profits of the big energy corporations.

  • Caoimhe Archibald – 2022 Comments on Conservative Budget Plans

    Caoimhe Archibald – 2022 Comments on Conservative Budget Plans

    The comments made by Caoimhe Archibald, the Sinn Fein MLA, on 11 October 2022.

    The Tories reckless mini budget continues to wreak economic chaos and will hit workers, families and businesses by pushing up mortgages and hiking businesses borrowing costs.

    The incompetent approach of the Tory Chancellor has led to the Bank of England having to again intervene to buy up government bonds to protect pensions.

    There is no greater indication that your plan is a mess when even the IMF, who championed cruel austerity that decimated our public services, are criticising them for making attempts to drive down inflation more difficult.

    It’s time for Liz Truss and the Tory government to scrap this plan, end the shameless policy of lining the pockets of the rich and halt the attack on our public services.

    Instead, they should support workers, families and small businesses who are struggling and introduce a windfall tax to cut the eye-watering profits of the big energy corporations.

  • Caoimhe Archibald – 2022 Comments on Need for Executive to Protect Jobs

    Caoimhe Archibald – 2022 Comments on Need for Executive to Protect Jobs

    The comments made by Caoimhe Archibald, the Sinn Fein MLA for East Londonderry, on 11 October 2022.

    The latest monthly outlook from Ulster Bank paints a bleak picture of the impacts of the soaring costs on doing business.

    Stark figures from NISRA have also outlined a decrease in the monthly number of employees on pay rolls, falling for the first time in over a year.

    Sinn Féin has consistently called on the British government to act to support businesses and they have failed to do anything.

    Instead, the Tory chancellor announced an outrageous mini-Budget that will cost businesses even more through unaffordable borrowing costs.

    We need an Executive formed now to immediately protect jobs and support businesses.

    The DUP’s boycott has blocked any efforts by local ministers to support businesses while they have also undermined the opportunities afforded by the Protocol to create jobs.

    Sinn Féin is ready to form an Executive today to support workers, families and businesses through this crisis.

  • Caoimhe Archibald – 2022 Comments on Conservative’s Economic Policy

    Caoimhe Archibald – 2022 Comments on Conservative’s Economic Policy

    The comments made by Caoimhe Archibald, the Sinn Fein’s Economic Spokesperson, on 3 October 2022.

    The British Chancellor has again defended his outrageous mini-Budget that will line the pockets of the rich, push up mortgages and do nothing to support ordinary people.

    And to add insult to injury, the Tory chancellor has now announced his intention to attack public services with cuts amounting to £18 billion following a decade of Tory assaults on health and other services.

    Rather than u-turning on just one part of their scandalous budget, the Tories should scrap the whole thing and instead invest in our public services and help workers, families and small businesses who are struggling.

    We need an Executive up and running immediately so that locally elected ministers can work together to put money in people’s pockets. The DUP must end its cruel boycott now.

  • Caoimhe Archibald – 2022 Comments on State of the Economy

    Caoimhe Archibald – 2022 Comments on State of the Economy

    The comments made by Caoimhe Archibald, Sinn Fein’s economic spokesperson, on 28 September 2022.

    The Tory government’s outrageous and scandalous Budget has prioritised the super-rich at the expense of ordinary workers, families and businesses.

    Now the Bank of England has issued a stark warning of more interest hikes that will make mortgages unaffordable and leave people struggling to keep a roof over their head.

    Ordinary people and businesses are struggling to pay their bills and keep the shutters up, while the British government is driving more misery.

    The International Monetary Fund (IMF), who previously called for austerity, are now exposing the scale of the mess the Tories are creating with this Budget and calling on them to reverse this bad decision making.

    I am reiterating the call on the Tories to abandon their ideologically driven financial catastrophe stop lining the pockets of the rich and support working people who are struggling.

    What we need now is a tax break for small businesses, more funding for public services, support for workers and a Windfall Tax to cut energy companies’ eye-watering profits. Workers and families need money in their pockets now.

  • Caoimhe Archibald – 2022 Comments on Reports Government Removing Bankers Bonuses Cap

    Caoimhe Archibald – 2022 Comments on Reports Government Removing Bankers Bonuses Cap

    The comments made by Caoimhe Archibald, the Sinn Fein MLA for East Londonderry, on 15 September 2022.

    Reports that the Tories are seeking to remove the cap on banker bonuses demonstrates once again that they are detached from the reality of the cost-of-living emergency facing ordinary people.

    Recent months have seen Tory ministers lambasting workers and introducing laws to undermine workers’ rights and the right to strike, while making bizarre claims that modest pay rises will deal with soaring costs and inflation.

    However, the same caution does not exist when it comes to top bankers, whose salaries are already through the roof.

    Ordinary workers and families are already facing the impossible choice between heating their homes and putting food on the table this winter.

    The British government needs to focus on real support for workers, families and businesses who are most impacted by rising costs and they need to cut people’s bills by slashing the eye-watering profits of energy giants through a Windfall Tax.

    We need an Executive formed immediately so we can work together to tackle the cost-of-living emergency and put money into people’s pockets now. The DUP should end the boycott.

  • Caoimhe Archibald – 2022 Comments on the Global Energy Crisis and Stormont

    Caoimhe Archibald – 2022 Comments on the Global Energy Crisis and Stormont

    The comments made by Caoimhe Archibald, the Sinn Fein MLA for East Londonderry, on 24 August 2022.

    There are hundreds of millions of pounds locked in a Stormont bank account that can help ease the pressures people are facing, but it cannot be spent because of the DUP’s cruel block on an Executive being formed.

    The DUP’s refusal to form a government has also created uncertainty on the roll out of the £400 payment to support every household in the north.

    So rather than looking for others to blame for their failures, the economy minister should tell his party to stop punishing ordinary workers and families and form a government now. That is the easiest way to get money into pockets.

    As we face an increasingly bleak winter, people rightly want ministers around the table and working together to help workers, families and businesses who are struggling to pay their bills and keep their shutters up.

    Sinn Féin is ready to form an Executive today, to work with others, and put money in people’s pockets to tackle the cost-of-living emergency. That’s our focus.