The political parties at Stormont are “entirely shameless when it comes to helping themselves to taxpayers’ money”, according to the Conservative Party’s South Belfast candidate, Ben Manton. Mr Manton made his comments after it was revealed that £860,000 would be shared among the parties under the Financial Assistance for Political Parties Scheme for 2015, discussed at the Assembly yesterday.
“This is an obscure scheme, which the Stormont parties are usually careful not to highlight, but it allows them to draw down substantial funding, which is often spent on extra salaries”, Ben explained. “These monies help to prop up a tribal carve-up at Executive level, because they’re weighted toward the larger parties, allowing them to maintain their dominance. They also add to the £5.8 million in salaries and £8.3 million in expenses which the Assembly already costs hard-working taxpayers in Northern Ireland.”
“These types of costs would be easier to swallow if Stormont were doing a good job. However, with our economy lagging behind the rest of the UK, because of inaction by the Executive and with standards of living the lowest in the UK, they highlight again the lack of value for money offered by Stormont parties. At Westminster, Conservative ministers have set about achieving efficiency across government departments. They’ve also turned around the economy and driven a jobs recovery. It’s a record of achievement in stark contrast to chaos at Stormont. The people of Northern Ireland deserve better and Conservative candidates are pledged to deliver value for money and to rebalance our economy, prioritising jobs and investment, rather than the Assembly gravy train.”