Debate contribution: Job Creation and Cross-border Cooperation in the North-west

Debate contribution by Mr Phillip Brett on 4 March 2025.

MLA

Mr Phillip Brett

Party at the time

Democratic Unionist Party

Date

4 March 2025

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Opposition Business

Heading

Job Creation and Cross-border Cooperation in the North-west

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 4833009

Read the official Assembly record

Text

I thank the Opposition for tabling the motion for debate. It is a useful opportunity to discuss facts and not fiction. Like the Member opposite, our party is committed to the growth of the north-west; indeed, the first visit that I undertook after being appointed as DUP economy spokesperson and Chairman of the Committee was to the city of Londonderry with my colleague Mr Middleton. That was because I recognised the vital role that Londonderry and the wider north-west play in the economic importance of Northern Ireland. The motion is, though, somewhat bizarre. We have absolutely no mention of a city deal project that will be vital for the north-west, a project of £300 million of investment that my party proudly championed at Westminster. Indeed, it is a project that the party opposite rightly championed, but, today, there is absolutely no mention of that vital UK Government support. I did a bit of research on some of the projects that will be funded under that scheme, and that increased my surprise as to why the party opposite excluded it from the motion today. Funding has already been secured for the redevelopment of Strabane town centre. The Member opposite — Mr McCrossan — is a clear and unwavering advocate for his home town of Strabane, but there has not been a single mention in the motion or use of precious parliamentary time today to highlight the benefits that have already been secured for his town. The regeneration project for the Derry riverfront, Strand Road and Walled City areas in the heart of two SDLP Members' constituency of Foyle does not have a single mention in the motion. I noticed that the motion includes the benefits of dual market access twice, but the Member who moved it, in the 10 minutes that she spent speaking, did not give one example of an investment secured as a benefit of dual market access. I am happy to give way to Ms McLaughlin, if she wants to put on record now an example of an investment secured in her city as a result of dual market access. That is because there has not been one. Not one has been secured. You would have thought that, if you were moving a motion that twice mentions the benefits of dual market access, you might have been able to name one. I am not asking for 10, but, given its prominence in the motion, I ask for one. Clearly, there is not one. I happily give way to Ms McLaughlin.

So, not a single example. The company that she has referenced was in operation before the ridiculous implementation of the protocol. I salute that business. Despite the bureaucracy pushed for by her party — the rigorous implementation — that would cost jobs in her constituency, that firm is still able to thrive. Do not take my words, but let us take the words of the chief executive of Invest Northern Ireland, who was before the Committee that Ms McLaughlin and I have the pleasure of serving on together. I asked him to give an example of the dual market access that is being talked up in the motion. How many examples was he able to give? The same number as the Member opposite: zero. It is important to read that into the record of the House for the avoidance of doubt. He said:

"The appeal of Northern Ireland's unique market access is limited by the extent to which goods and traders rely on the GB supply chain, where friction remains."

There is not a word in the motion about that. My party will continue to champion the north-west region, and I encourage the Members opposite, on some occasion, to take the opportunity to speak proudly of the city that they represent. If I were a foreign investor and saw motion after motion telling us how terrible the city of Londonderry is and listened to political representatives —.

We had 10 minutes from you, Ms McLaughlin, and I have already given way once. I will make some progress on the remarks that I want to make. If I am an investor and I continually hear from the city's political leadership, which, for many years at Westminster and for the majority of the time at the Assembly, has been the SDLP, that the city is such a bad place, at some stage I will think, "Why would I want to invest there, if the only remarks that I hear are negative?". My colleague and I will take the opportunity to highlight some of the great aspects of the economy in the north-west: £300 million of investment as a result of a city deal for Londonderry and the wider region that will create jobs and investment for people across that region and £10 million each for Coleraine and Londonderry secured from the towns fund, which is a UK Government fund. Surprise, surprise: that does not make it into the motion tabled by the Opposition. You would almost think that they do not want to highlight those excellent —.

I commend you for wanting more, Mr McCrossan, but it is important that you recognise at some stage the importance of the investment that has been secured and celebrate it.

Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. A dedicated task force for the growth of the Magee campus was rightly agreed by the Executive, because they recognise the importance of that to the wider region. Again, there is no mention of that in the motion. We will hear from my able colleague, the Member for East Londonderry Mr Bradley, who continues to champion investment in his constituency and in Coleraine university — I am sure that he would love to have the opportunity to have a dedicated task force — but, again, that is not worthy of a mention in the SDLP motion. A dedicated funding stream of £2·5 million that the Executive agreed as a priority will go to City of Derry Airport (CODA). No other airport in Northern Ireland will get that support. The Executive recognise the importance of CODA. How many mentions of that are there in the motion? Zero. I encourage the Opposition, at some stage, to recognise the work that all parties and the Executive have rightly done to support Londonderry and the wider region. I encourage Members to read the Department's subregional economic plan, in which other parts of Northern Ireland rank much lower than the region named in the motion. There is no dedicated task force for those regions, no £300 million from a city deal and no £10 million from the towns fund. There is no Executive funding stream for their airport and no task force to grow their higher education centre. Ms McLaughlin and her party are excellent representatives and champions of their constituents, but, at some stage, they should recognise the importance of the work that has been done. If I continually hear representatives talk down the city and say that it has received no attention, I may be confused by that, because the investment that the UK Government and the Executive have secured has been second to none for the people whom they represent.

1,200 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

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Assessed 21 October 2026 at 12:03 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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