SDLP Leader Colum Eastwood has labelled the ongoing appeasement of the DUP by the British Government as ‘cowardice’.
Mr Eastwood added that it is humiliating to see the British Government continuously bend over backwards for a party who are so out of step with public opinion here.
Said the Foyle MLA: “The British Government’s latest ‘commitments’ to offer Northern Ireland an opportunity to provide consultative advice on backstop provisions is nothing more than an empty veto being handed to an empty chamber; an attempt no doubt to appease the DUP, and a tactic that has once again failed.
“The prolonged stalemate at Stormont is as much attributable to the obscure relationship between the British Government and the DUP as it is anything else.
“The British Government would do well to remember that the DUP, despite making up 90% of Northern Ireland’s representation at Westminster, only hold 1/3 of the vote and a viewpoint on Brexit that is at odds with the majority of people in Northern Ireland.
“Their relationship with the DUP, coupled by their inaction over the past two years, has discredited the British Government’s role as a fair and reliable co-guarantor of the Good Friday Agreement.
“Because of this, they have failed all sections of the electorate here.
“It is now time they take action to see the political institutions here restored; anything less will not be acceptable to people here who in 1998 put their trust in them to be honest brokers of our peace and power-sharing arrangements,” added the SDLP leader.
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