Eastwood says Truss must choose between 'starving and freezing people' and DUP

The SDLP leader urged the new leader of the British Conservative Party, in her first Prime Minister's questions this afternoon, to act to support people amid the cost-of-living crisis and abandon her Government's alliance with the DUP over the Brexit Protocol.

"The Prime Minister should know by now that many people in the north of Ireland are starving and freezing in their homes. We need a tailored solution for Northern Ireland but that's much harder to achieve because the DUP are refusing to form a Government at Stormont.

"The new Prime Minister has a choice to make. She can either be on the side of the DUP or on the side of struggling people in Northern Ireland. So whose side is she on?" asked the Derry MP.

Ms. Truss, however, said she was wedded to a revision of the Irish Protocol of the Withdrawal Agreement her Government negotiated and agreed with the European Union.

"I want to work with all of the parties in Northern Ireland to get the Executive and the Assembly back up and running so we can collectively deliver for the people of Northern Ireland but in order to do that we need to fix the issues of the Northern Ireland Protocol which has damaged the balance between the communities in Northern Ireland.

"I'm determined to get on with doing that and I'm determined to work with all parties to find that resolution," she stated.