Don't give Sinn Fein credit for being 'passive bystanders applauding UK initiative' on bringing Gaza students to Northern Ireland, say DUP
Sinn Fein are ‘passive bystanders’ to a UK scheme bringing Palestinian students to Northern Ireland and don’t deserve the credit they sought over it.
That’s according to DUP MLA Philip Brett, who branded the Gaza scholarship programme as a whole an example of “Labour virtue signalling” while accusing the government of “failing to put any pressure on Hamas to release the hostages and end the terrorism they engage in”.
Three students arrived from Gaza yesterday on what one nationalist politician said were Salam Scholarships – a system set up in 2023 that pays for Palestinian students’ tuition fees and accommodation while they take a course at the Ulster University, and also gives them a monthly stipend to live on as well as contributing towards their visa application and travel costs.
They were part of a cohort of more than 30 Palestinians going to universities across the UK, though Sinn Fein Economy Minister Caoimhe Archibald was keen to seek some credit for the arrival of Gazans in Northern Ireland, stating she’d lobbied Westminster to ensure another student yet to make the trip gets “prompt and safe passage”.
For Mr Brett, the scholarship system is “politically motivated” and doesn’t make a meaningful difference to Gaza, while Sinn Fein are trying to bask in someone else’s glory.
“We have seen exactly this sort of virtue signalling from the Labour government before, which is then leapt on by Sinn Fein as if they have had something to do with it – when in reality, they are passive bystanders applauding a United Kingdom initiative,” he said.
“It is another scheme from Labour that is politically motivated rather than having any meaningful impact on the situation in Gaza. In this case [the students] have travelled alone, but it should not confer any right to remain within the United Kingdom.
“Each time we see such schemes it is another example of the UK government failing to put any pressure on Hamas to release the hostages and end the terrorism they engage in. They appear far more interested in emboldening Hamas than confronting them.”
Ms Archibald has said she last week wrote to the British foreign and home secretaries “calling for urgent action to ensure a remaining student arrives safely at the earliest opportunity”.