‘Derry’s city centre has been dealt blow after blow’ - Foyle MP

Mr Eastwood and the Shadow Chancellor also discussed the challenges Brexit poses to the North and the urgent need for a stimulus package to stabilise the economy here against an expected recession.

Following the meeting, the Foyle MP said: “Coronavirus has presented immense difficulties for our local businesses. Many shops pulled down their shutters in March and will never open them again, even as certain lockdown restrictions are eased. In the past few weeks, Derry’s city centre has been dealt blow after blow with the announcements that businesses who employ hundreds in our city will close, leaving Derry yet again an unemployment blackspot on the cusp of a recession. Opposition parties in London need to be united in calling on the British government to help transform the North West’s economy to encourage future growth, attract businesses and maintain employment.

“Given the recent rise in Coronavirus cases in the North and the possibility of further restrictions, many people availing of the British government’s furlough scheme are worried about what the future holds for their jobs in the event of a second wave. It is crucial that an extension to the British government’s furlough scheme is put in place to protect workers, employers and our local economy.”

Mr Eastwood said the people of Derry know only too well about the “decades-long underinvestment and neglect this city has experienced at the hands of successive British Governments”.

“This neglect,” he said, “will only be aggravated by a Tory government hell-bent on dragging the North out of the European Union against its wishes. Our city will be disproportionately damaged by the impact of a reckless Brexit that people here didn’t vote for.

“Derry’s best interests are within the European Union with immediate access to the world’s largest trading block,” he said, adding:

“We are all very aware of the transformative impact that education has on our young peoples’ futures. Due to years of deliberate underinvestment, Derry has missed out on a full-scale university. Provision for a full-scale university to invest in skills and provide opportunities to meet the needs of our people must be put in motion to address the inequality and to keep our young people here.”