Belfast's Cost of Living Coalition launches charter of demands

Speaking at the launch of a charter of demands by Belfast's Cost of Living Coalition, members of the group called for immediate and effective action from Stormont and Westminster in order to alleviate the wholly unacceptable levels of poverty many will face this winter as the energy crisis leaves many having to choose between whether to turn on the heating or eat.

Maria Morgan, a benefits adviser from North Belfast said: "Low income families, people on certain benefits, and more, have fallen through the cracks and those people are forced to use foodbanks or starve if they are too embarrassed, which we see all the time. There are things that Ministers in Stormont could do now to protect those people and they need to act now. That's what this charter calls on them to do.”

Siobhan Harding from the Women's Support Network said: “There are women in communities making choices between heating their homes, putting food on the table or buying presents this Christmas. A lot of this poverty is unseen, because women are the shock absorbers in this society. In this charter are the measures that can be made now to protect people, from reinstating the £20 benefit uplift to increasing the rate of benefits in line with inflation, increasing carer's allowance, and implementation of the anti-poverty strategy.”

Conor McCarthy, a trade unionist with Unison and a health worker, added: “People are dying on waiting lists because they aren't getting access to the healthcare they pay in tax for already and can't afford to pay private. It is a disgrace, especially as times are getting harder for workers. This could be alleviated by cutting the profiteering and the privatisation out of our healthcare system. These demands, and more around inflation-busting rises for workers are in this charter, and we hope people will come together to collectively push for them. I am calling on the leadership of the Trade Union movement to lead this movement today, to build pressure on the streets and deliver change now.”

Gerry Carroll, People Before Profit MLA, further added: “For the workers striking for inflation busting pay rises, for the women making difficult decisions for their families, this crisis is real and terrifying. For the bankers set to win from the Tory budget and the massive energy companies profiteering off our bills, there is no cost of living crisis. This disparity is being enabled by governments here and in London and could be solved by the measures in this charter which seeks to redistribute the massive wealth in society to those who are suffering at the bottom. It would be a mistake to say Stormont Ministers can do nothing - there are measures in this charter they could implement today. We're calling on everyone to join us this Saturday to bring the demands of this charter to the streets and to pressure them into action.”

The Cost of Living Coalition Belfast will host a protest to demand action on the crisis at Belfast City Hall on Saturday October 1 at 1pm.