Take, for example, the revelation this week from our Deputy Leader Michelle McIlveen who has been questioning spend in the Department of Health. Over the past five years, the Department has incurred a gross spend of over £13 million on prescribing paracetamol - when it costs just 37p per box in Tesco. In the budget context we face, is this real value for taxpayers?
Or consider the £145,000 spend on Irish language signage at Grand Central Station by Sinn Fein’s Liz Kimmins in the Department for Infrastructure. This money could have been used to support struggling businesses in Sandy Row, which have been devastated by the station’s impact, or to fix the potholes that plague our roads.
Our team on the Executive have written to the DfI Minister expressing their opposition to this decision and questioning the process for this decision being made. Once again, we see Sinn Fein’s approach to equality laid bare, and that their partisan pet projects take priority over the wider public good.
This is clearly a controversial matter and our Ministers will use their position at the Executive table to not only get to the bottom of how the decision was made but put a marker down that public money cannot be used to further Sinn Fein’s pet projects.
I believe we need to put taxpayers first. Ensuring public services are delivered fairly and with efficiency. That means cutting waste and prioritising essential services.
In a mandatory coalition, we rely on other parties to adopt the same approach. Yet this week, Sinn Fein demonstrated its focused on narrow politics rather than acting fairly and wisely.
One priority that is to be welcomed in the Spring Statement in the commitment to defence spending. This reflects the strength of the United Kingdom, a nation that stands together to protect its interests at home and abroad.
In contrast, the Irish Republic maintains a position of neutrality, yet when security threats arise, they rely on the Royal Navy and Royal Airforce to safeguard their interests and deep-sea cables. Their ongoing debate around neutrality is one that goes to the conscience of a country.
Foreign aggression, threat, or indeed war, is not something any nation chooses. The UK did not choose war in 1914 or 1939, but when faced with the aggression and evil of others, nations are left with a choice: act or stand by as a spectator. That is ultimately a matter of conscience.
The UK has always chosen to stand firm in defence of freedom and security, and Northern Ireland plays its part in that shared duty. This isn’t, as Michelle O’Neill described, a “macho agenda of militarisation”, it’s about preparing to protect not just our freedoms, but those of others.
Have a great weekend!
