Plea to unionists to back West Belfast candidate

The DUP MP yesterday called on unionists in the west of the city to come out to vote on May 5 in a constituency in recent times with a low turnout in loyalist areas.

In a tweet to support Mr McCoubrey, he said: “West Belfast is a constituency where unionists have not had a voice at Assembly levels for years.

“With an 80+% nationalist majority in the last Westminster election poll Frank McCoubrey got 13.5% of the vote when it was very difficult to win.

“In this Assembly election a candidate who gets over 15% will almost certainly get elected.

“If West Belfast unionists come out to vote for Mr McCoubrey (when they couldn’t win) and they did, all the more reason to come out on 5th May when they can win.”

Meanwhile, the SDLP leader Colum Eastwood challenged Secretary of State Brandon Lewis in the House of Commons on emergency cost-of-living legislation.

Mr Eastwood called on the Northern Ireland secretary to commit to bring forward measures that would free up £300 million of unspent resources from the last Executive’s budget to fight the cost-of-living crisis.

The Foyle MP said: “The fact that Stormont has more than £300m in unspent money sitting in a bank account while people and families across Northern Ireland struggle to heat their homes or feed their children is an injustice that needs to be addressed urgently ... the hard truth is there may not be an Executive after this election.

“That’s why I am challenging the secretary of state to commit to measures that will unlock the resource in the event of a protracted negotiation or the continued collapse of the institutions.”