Sir Jeffrey: Cost of living measures must be accessible to all UK citizens

Sir Jeffrey said,

“The cost of living is crippling homes across the UK. The DUP has put a package of proposals to the Chancellor to help address energy costs. The Government however has previously stated that it is limited in helping Northern Ireland people with energy costs because of the NI Protocol.

This is an outrageous situation in the first place but it would be even more outrageous if the Government, whilst talking about legislating to deal with the NI Protocol, continue to allow homeowners in Northern Ireland to be excluded from cost-of-living help.

As part of our five-point plan for Northern Ireland, we have been urging the Government to introduce a Windfall Tax on energy firms and make going green affordable to more homes in Northern Ireland. The reality of the Protocol has been however, that tax reliefs, available in England, Scotland and Wales have not been available in Northern Ireland because of the Northern Ireland Protocol.

This is not new news for the Government. We have been warning about it for two years and the Government committed to deal with it in New Decade New Approach Agreement. We cannot have fully functioning devolution in Northern Ireland until the Protocol is dealt with.

The Protocol threatens our place in the United Kingdom, endangers jobs for our people, drives up costs for customers and reduces choice on our shelves. We’re making progress but London and Brussels need to keep moving.”