Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) leader Gavin Robinson has today launched his party’s general election manifesto at the Blacnhflower Stadium in Belfast.
In the 2019 general election, the DUP returned the largest number of MPs, with Sinn Fein close behind.
Their manifesto begins with a message from party leader Gavin Robinson, “The DUP has an experienced track record of speaking up for you on issues that matter.”
“While others talk about delivery, we can stand over what has been achieved. The DUP has the strength and depth to be able to make the Pro-Union case and to unashamedly make the case for NI in Parliament”.
As with every other party, we have analysed their manifesto and picked out the key points we thought you would want to know.
Promoting the Union and removing barriers
The DUP say that the Northern Ireland Protocol was “imposed over the heads of the people of NI and without support from any elected unionist”.
The implementation of the Protocol led Rishi Sunak to agree the Windsor Framework with the European Union, but the DUP didn’t support it and ultimately it lead to the collapse of Stormont.
“Following many months of discussions with the government, it was clear by mid-January that we had to make a judgement as to whether we had secured sufficient progress to allow us to participate in a re-established Assembly and Executive”.
Though the manifesto points out that the ‘Safeguarding the Union’ Command Paper which they agreed with the government included the establishment of a new East-West Council and Intertrade UK.
They say that they will “continue to fight to fully restore Northern Ireland’s place within the United Kingdom, including removing the application of EU law in our country and the internal Irish Sea Border it creates”.
Trust in politics
Donations to political parties have different rules in Northern Ireland compared to the rest of the UK, the DUP say the rules that apply to the rest of the UK should apply here too.
“The foreign donation loophole must be closed which sees NI stand alone in the British Isles as the only place where foreign donations of money can influence politics.”
On the House of Lords, they say it should be a smaller chamber, with a membership that is majority elected, and should have strengthened representation for devolved regions.
Finally, they say that “Sinn Fein’s abstentionist MPs” should not be allowed to receive expenses and allowances as they do not attend Parliament.
Fair funding for public services
The DUP say that the government must reach agreement on a “new, responsible, long-term fiscal framework that equitably funds our public services”.
Using a new needs-based factor and 5% transactional uplift, they will campaign for NI’s baseline funding to be increased.
On the NHS, they will campaign to “drive waiting lists down – fostering large-scale partnerships between health & social care and independent providers or not-for-profit organisations.”
They also say they will engage the UK government on public sector pay disparities and campaign for recurrent funding to provide pay awards.
Economy
In a wide-ranging section in their manifesto, the DUP touches on things like hydrogen, apprenticeships and banking hubs.
They continue to support lowering the rate of corporation tax in Northern Ireland.
The establishment of “an independent UK Skills Commission” is also something they want to see, to assess our current and future labour needs, with a remit to scrutinise policies and decisions taken at local and national levels.
Defence and security
The UK government recently announced their intention to increase defence spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2030. The DUP say the government should commit to 3% of GDP being spent on defence by 2035.
The DUP say they will “work to increase the number of major MoD contracts in Northern Ireland, advocate for the MoD to address low levels of investment in defence SMEs in NI, and promote a greater understanding of NI defence industries and regional supply chains within MoD and wider government.”
On immigration, they say that national immigration and asylum policy should apply equal across the UK. This follows the court ruling that the Rwanda Scheme cannot extend to Northern Ireland.
They do support an approach that allows those who are fleeing war or persecution to find refuge in the UK, and support action against the crime gangs operating in the Channel, and more efficient processing of asylum claims.
You can read the DUP’s manifesto in full below, or by clicking here.
