SDLP leader Colum Eastwood rounds on Sinn Fein MPs who 'just turn up to drink coffee in the canteen every now and again'

Colum Eastwood made the comments about Sinn Fein's abstentionist policy in an interview with the Press Association news agency.

By the News Letter's calculations, Sinn Fein's seven MPs have claimed business expenses of £5,722,106 since the last Westminster election in 2019 without taking their seats (they are not entitled to direct salaries as a result of their abstentionism).

Mr Eastwood’s criticism has been put to Sinn Fein, and a response is awaited.

Much of Sinn Fein’s abstentionism has to do with its refusal of its MPs to state the oath required to take office.

The SDLP do make the statement, but under protest.

In 2019 for example, Mr Eastwood said: “Under protest and in order to represent my constituency, I do solemnly swear, sincerely and truly declare and affirm that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, her heirs and successors, according to law.

“My true allegiance is to the people of Derry and the people of Ireland.”

The SDLP, once the dominant force in nationalist politics in Northern Ireland, has had its position eclipsed by its republican rivals in recent elections.

However, after losing all of its MPs in the 2017 general election, the SDLP rebounded in 2019 when Mr Eastwood and Claire Hanna won in Foyle and the former Belfast South constituencies with large majorities.

Mr Eastwood said that retaining its two seats would be a “huge victory” for his party.

He added: “The reality is anybody who knows anything about Westminster, I only learnt this a few years ago, the reality is if you are not there you don’t count, your voice isn’t heard, it’s ignored.

“We are ignored at the best of times, we have to be there to be heard.

“We have actually achieved quite a lot, even under a Tory government, I think we’d achieve a lot more under a Labour government.

“The bottom line is this election is about turning up. There is not much point in my view of running for election if you are not going to turn up after the election.

“Sinn Fein are entitled to do that but I think it is better that people turn up and do their jobs as they are elected to do.

“We’ve had enough actually of people being elected to chambers here and not turning up. I think people need to be at their work with their sleeves rolled up.”

He went on to add: "We have got is a sister party relationship with the Labour Party, years of developing and building on that relationship.

"I spend a lot of time speaking to Keir Starmer and other members of the shadow cabinet.

“We are there. If you are not there, if you are not seen, you just get ignored. Turning up to drink coffee now and again in the canteen doesn’t cut it.

“I genuinely believe that the voice of the north of Ireland was silenced for two years during those mad Brexit years.

"We put the voice of everybody else other than the DUP back into Westminster and we will do it again.”

The SDLP leader said the funding of Northern Ireland needed to be on the agenda of the next government.

He said: “The bottom line is the Tories have wrecked the place, they have wrecked the public finances, they have destroyed the economy and it isn’t just going to be as simple as turning the (funding) taps back on.

“What we’ve been saying for 10 or 15 years is that the basis on which the Executive here is funded is wrong.

“It should be funded on the basis of need and we are getting short-changed.

“That argument will have to be made, it is an argument we are making, we will continue to make it if we are elected.

“We will make it in the chamber – you can’t make it if you’re not there.”

The SDLP is running candidates in all 18 constituencies in Northern Ireland although Mr Eastwood said resources would be focused on “three or four places where we are competitive”.

He said: “We are fighting hard to retain our two seats. We are in a fight in South Down as well. We have strong support there.

“There are other places where we have to build back after difficult elections, that is what we will be doing. We are realistic, we know the battles that we are in and that is where our resources will go.”

He added: “You have got to remember in 2017 we lost all three of our MPs. That was a big, big blow for this party. A huge effort went in to getting two of those back.

“We obviously got huge majorities (in 2019) and that is not going to happen this time.

“But retaining those seats after the battering we have taken over the last couple of years, I think would be a huge victory. But we are fighting for every vote.”