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Good morning John

This week’s Budget from the Labour Government has again proven how far detached it is from the priorities of households and businesses.

At a time when costs are rising, Labour has delivered a Budget that takes more, discourages work and attacks aspiration. It was a left-wing, socialist Budget which, instead of rewarding effort, pushes people towards dependency and leaves those who work hard questioning whether it is even worth trying to get ahead.

Take the continued freeze on tax thresholds. As wages rise only to keep pace with inflation, more workers will be dragged into paying tax, or higher tax bands, even though they are no better off. Families are asking a simple question: Why work harder, why pursue promotion, why take on responsibility if the financial reward is immediately swallowed up by stealth taxes? The DUP believes work should always pay. Labour’s approach has the opposite effect, promoting welfare over work.

Businesses feel no more encouraged. With hospitality under serious strain, the Government offered nothing, with no recognition of the pressures facing employers who sustain thousands of jobs. For our farmers, tinkering around the edges of inheritance tax rules is simply not enough.

People might stomach higher taxes if they saw public services improving and waste being cut. Instead, they see decline, and a Civil Service too often lacking the ambition to deliver better. Massive sums continue to be spent chasing unrealistic climate targets, while the mounting costs of unmanaged immigration are ignored.

And this brings us to an important point about integrity and responsibility in government. Strong public services depend on a strong economy, but they also depend on spending wisely and protecting every pound meant for those in genuine need.

Yet here in Northern Ireland, Sinn Fein cannot even bring itself to allow progress on proposals brought forward by DUP Communities Minister Gordon Lyons to strengthen investigations into welfare fraud and error. He submitted this work in May, yet Sinn Fein have stalled it for six months.

This is not a minor issue. Welfare fraud and error in Northern Ireland is estimated at almost £350 million. Every pound lost is a pound taken away from people who genuinely need support.

The proposals Gordon brought forward are entirely reasonable: increasing investigative capacity, improving checks, and ensuring that money wrongly paid out is recovered and redirected to frontline support. The financial case is overwhelming. Every £1 invested in tackling fraud and error returns £8 to the public purse. Put simply, hiring an investigator costing around £100,000 typically results in the recovery of £800,000 a year. Northern Ireland and the Treasury share these savings 50:50, meaning both benefit directly from stronger oversight.

So why has Sinn Fein stalled this? Why drag their feet on measures that protect the most vulnerable and ensure credibility in the welfare system? Why refuse to let Gordon Lyons get on with the job of tackling fraud and error?

Yesterday I was delighted to join with more than 150 guests at a Business Breakfast hosted by Strangford DUP which included an analysis of the Budget by Gareth Hetherington from Ulster University.

This same instinct to avoid scrutiny, sidestep accountability and protect their own interests is on display again in their refusal to answer basic questions about the criminal damage caused to the portrait of former DUP Lord Mayor Lord Browne. Whether in welfare oversight or public integrity, Sinn Fein’s pattern is the same: evasion, obstruction and a disregard for transparency.

The DUP will continue to stand firmly for accountability, integrity and the needs of hardworking families and those in genuine need. But the question for Sinn Fein remains: what matters more - the public’s right to the truth and to responsible government, or Sinn Fein’s instinct for self-preservation?

Yours sincerely,

Rt. Hon. Gavin Robinson MP

DUP Leader

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