THE British Labour Party has promised a "revolution" in the way the Northern Ireland economy would be run under Labour.
The pledge was given by the Labour Party's shadow minister on the Northern economy, Mr Eric Illsley. He told members of Derry Chamber of Commerce yesterday that 15 years of Conservative Party rule had held back the North's economic development.
Mr Illsley, MP for Barnsley Central, is tipped as the North's next economy minister if Labour wins the general election. He said Labour's priority would be job creation. "Mass unemployment is a scourge in Northern Ireland, an appalling waste of talent and energy," he said. Labour would "sign up to the European social chapter. Employees in Northern Ireland deserve the same protection as their counterparts in other European countries like the Irish Republic. It seems crazy that you could be legally entitled to unpaid parental leave in Donegal but not in Derry, he said.
Pledging "a skills revolution", including a skills audit, and a relaxation of the 16 hour rule, Mr Illsley said employers would get a £75 rebate for six months when they take on a person who has "been unemployed for two years".
He was concerned at recent media reports on the Bloody Sunday killings which indicated that soldiers could have fired on marchers from the city's walls. Thirteen men were shot dead in Derry's Bogside on January 30th, 1972, during a Civil Rights march. A 14th man died later.
Speaking just 10 days before the 25th anniversary of the killings, Mr Illsley said: "I read with interest and with concern the press articles which tend to show a different perspective to the Bloody Sunday killings in that soldiers were apparently firing from the walls within the city and that obviously is a cause for concern.
"I'm sure that the Labour Party will, in the 25th anniversary year, look at this very seriously indeed to determine if there is a cause to refer the matter back to a further inquiry and to look at the report of Lord Widgery to see whether there is evidence available and evidence which perhaps was not available many years ago, to see whether another inquiry will be required. I cannot give a definite answer to that at the moment, but it's obvious that it's something that I read with concern.
"It concerns me and I will raise this with my colleagues and we will discuss it in the run up to the election and obviously involve ourselves within that to see whether we should support a call for another inquiry," he said.