British policy pushing North into poverty: Sinn Féin

Northern Ireland Office Ministers were today accused of adopting the same attitude to poverty in the North as their Victorian counterparts during the Famine.

Sinn Féin Assembly candidate Martina Anderson made the claim on the eve of her party's launch of an anti-poverty strategy for the North West of Ireland in Derry.

With householders in the North facing increased rates bills and the introduction of water charges in April, the Foyle Assembly candidate claimed elderly people and lone parents were being pushed into poverty by British government policies.

"While some government departments pay lip service to the concepts of social exclusion and marginalisation within the North of Ireland, others continue their relentless pressure upon the vulnerable through the unjust and unwanted increases in rates in tandem with the imposition of a water tax on all households," she said.