Starmer visit ‘raises expectations’ he will act on high fuel costs, says Mary Lou McDonald

Keir Starmer meets Mary Lou McDonald at The Culloden Hotel, Co. Down. Picture: Mark Marlow/PA Wire.

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s visit to Northern Ireland has “raised expectations” that he will act on the high cost of fuel, the Sinn Féin leader has said.

Mary Lou McDonald said the cost of living was the main topic discussed during a “very forthright” meeting with Mr Starmer in Belfast on Thursday.

Ms McDonald and First Minister for Northern Ireland Michelle O’Neill said that families were struggling with high costs, as around two-thirds of domestic properties in Northern Ireland use home heating oil.

Mr Starmer was meeting with the political leaders at Stormont before attending the UK-Ireland Summit in Cork, along with several senior ministers from his Cabinet.

The meeting comes as he faces renewed questioning over making Peter Mandelson the UK’s Washington ambassador after a release of official documents revealed he had been warned of a “general reputational risk” over the appointment.

It also comes as governments are coming under pressure over a spike in the cost of fuel and home heating oil after the US and Israel began bombing Iran over a week ago.

Ms McDonald said in Belfast: “We’ve challenged the Prime Minister now to make an announcement, to come up with something that will actually make a difference to households right across the north that are struggling so badly and who, thus far, have not seen any kind of an adequate response from London, from the Prime Minister or from the Treasury.”

She added: “Keir Starmer has come to Ireland, to Belfast, to Cork.

“He has framed his visit in respect of cost-of-living pressures, and specifically the price gouging, but also the runaway cost of home heating oil, and he needs to come up with an answer for families all across the north.

“I fully expect, and we’ve made this plain to him, that he will have something constructive and meaningful to say in that regard when he comes and speaks to the press.” 

Ms McDonald said they raised issues relating to Palestine, Iran and the UK’s arming of Israel, as well as the progress in establishing the Pat Finucane inquiry and the need for an inquiry into the death of Sean Brown, a Catholic father murdered by loyalists in 1997.

- Press Association