Vernon Coaker MP, Labour’s Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, responding to a report released by the Northern Ireland Council for Voluntary Action which shows that the region will be hit harder by welfare reform than anywhere else in the UK, said:

“This report makes very worrying reading about the impact the government’s ill-thought out changes to social security will have in Northern Ireland.

“Political parties, community groups, church leaders and charities all raised serious concerns about the government’s approach, and told Theresa Villiers and Iain Duncan Smith that Northern Ireland would be disproportionately affected. But they chose not to listen.

“Families in Northern Ireland and across Britain are facing a cost of living crisis. The government needs to get a grip. Prices have risen faster than wages for 38 of the 39 months that David Cameron has been in power. Working families have seen their living standards fall, and people in Northern Ireland are £800 a year worse off under this Tory-led government.

“The difference between Labour and the Tories is clear. Ed Miliband has said that a Labour government will scrap the bedroom tax, which adversely affects 32,000 people in Northern Ireland. David Cameron introduced the bedroom tax at the same time as cutting tax for millionaires. He is doing nothing to deal with the cost of living crisis because he stands up only for a privileged few, and people in Northern Ireland are suffering as a result.”

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