Hi °C | Lo °C Foyle MP Mark Durkan has issued a warning that spending cuts will further exacerbate the jobs crisis in the region.
Londonderry currently has Northern Ireland’s highest unemployment rate at 7.3%.
Mr Durkan warned that it was lack of work and not lack of motivation to work that was hampering the city.
Regarding the new Conservatives and Lib Dem coalition at Westminster, the SDLP man said that its plans to pursue cuts was “not only questionable in the overall circumstances but worrying for Northern Ireland”.
“However, it is not only the block grant that will affect people here. The lines that they have agreed on welfare reform and the future of benefits seem to forget that there are areas of high unemployment — like Derry — where the problem is lack of work and not lack of work ethic.”
