Any economic recovery in Northern Ireland is “solely down to Conservative led, UK wide policies and in spite of poor leadership and mismanagement at Stormont”, according to the Conservatives’ South Antrim Westminster candidate, Alan Dunlop. Mr Dunlop, who is a businessman with decades of experience running a shipping business involved in importing and exporting from Northern Ireland, made his comments after the Ulster Bank’s latest Purchasing Managers Index revealed that the economy here continues to lag behind the rest of the UK.
“While the recovery in the rest of the UK is still strong, performance in Northern Ireland is slowing down”, Alan explained. “That’s the fault of a complacent Executive, which isn’t committed to rebalancing the economy and isn’t geared toward helping business and creating jobs. The Ulster Bank’s survey reveals that business activity has actually fallen in the first quarter of 2015. Companies’ order books are growing too slowly and the construction industry is struggling particularly badly.”
“It’s ironic that these figures have emerged at the same time that Stormont parties are due to meet to discuss how much taxpayers’ money to award themselves through the ‘Financial Assistance for Political Parties Scheme’. People in Northern Ireland have been badly let down by politicians who are not prepared to prioritise jobs and prosperity, but instead engage in begging bowl politics and point-scoring. In contrast, the Conservative Party has a proven record on the economy, which is delivering a nation-wide recovery. The choice for voters is between Conservative competence and chaos with the Stormont parties.”