SDLP Assembly Member for Newry and Armagh Justin McNulty MLA has said that Agriculture Minister Edwin Poots’ plans to water down critical climate crisis legislation should be opposed by all parties.
Mr McNulty said that the DUP Leader was fooling no one with claims that a cross-party bill threatens farming businesses while Brexiteers continue plans for a trade deal with Australia that would flood markets with cheap, low quality agriculture products.
Mr McNulty said, ‘If the DUP was serious about protecting farming businesses, they should take a look at the consequences their Brexit is having on agriculture trade. The Brexit trade deal that their Tory Brexiteer friends in Whitehall are about to agree with Australia will lead, in the medium term, to a flood of low price, low quality meat products that will fundamentally distort local markets.’
‘The only protection we have is the protocol which they want to shred. The crocodile tears over climate legislation aren’t fooling anyone.’
‘The climate crisis is the geopolitical challenge of this and future generations. We have a part to play in reducing carbon emissions and halting the increase in global temperatures. But we have to choose change – that means mobilising the machinery of government across every aspect of our society to address the emergency. All parties need to get real about that.’
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CLANRYE NEWS 