OPINION: ‘Our institutions of government need to do things differently’

There is no point thinking that life and the economy will go back to where they were before. That is why we have to be clear with our priorities as we shape the economic recovery in the most positive way possible, making the future better than the past.

The SDLP’s Four Principles for Economic Recovery, launched this week, is the basis for rebuilding Derry’s economy in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

We are calling for a new deal for young people, recognising that Covid-19 will particularly affect young adults and children still at school. As we have seen from the exams debacle, if we are not careful the existing barriers and divisions within our society based on wealth and class will be widened as a result of this crisis.

The SDLP is calling for a new localism in Derry – it was our local shops, locally owned, that helped us to get through the first wave of the pandemic. We need to re-establish our roots in our local communities, supporting local businesses, just as they have supported us.

We want to use this opportunity to improve the places in Derry where we live and work, including through a big boost for childcare provision and early years learning.

We also need to strengthen our communities in other ways. Derry’s connectivity is not good enough, including our cross-border transport and economic linkages.

We all know that we need more investment in our roads and rail lines, to help us move about quicker and with more efficiency. But just as importantly, we need better broadband connections. It is unacceptable that thousands of homes are without high quality broadband. This holds back our children and students from learning online and prevents some of our most vulnerable citizens from accessing services over the internet.

But we need to be honest and say that our institutions of government and administration need to do things differently – not least by developing new sources of finance to phase-out our reliance on business rates that are crippling much of our retail sector.

The SDLP has throughout its 50 year history been the party willing to bring forward exciting new policies, capable of taking our society forward. We demand progress and development, creating more jobs in Derry that lead to a more productive, higher skilled and more satisfied society, geared towards social justice and a sustainable economy.

Our Four Principles for Economic Recovery would produce exactly this.