Message from Dr. Alasdair McDonnell MP A Better Way We need to make Northern Ireland work socially, financially and politically.  The Stormont House  Agreement has only copperfastened the  dependency between our economy and the UK Government. Under the current arrangements we are locked into a subsidy driven existence. The services we can deliver for the people of the North are dictated not by need, but by the amount of money the British Government hands down to Stormont year after year.  The SDLP is offering a simple choice: prosperity not austerity. Over recent years we have been locked into seemingly unending austerity.  Year after year we have seen cuts piled upon cuts, budgets have been slashed and services cancelled.  This is why the SDLP voted against the most recent budget.  We have a choice.  We can choose further austerity or choose a prosperity process.  For Northern Ireland to prosper we must take action.  The Conservative Party’s threat to pull us out of the European Union has left farmers fearing for their future. Jobs have been lost as businesses relocate to ensure that they stay within the EU. Community services, infrastructure projects and northsouth enterprises all face an uncertain future due to the Conservative Party’s pandering to their Eurosceptic fringe.  This isn’t good enough.  The SDLP firmly believe that Northern Ireland is better off within a united Europe.   The two main parties at the heart of the Stormont  Assembly are not delivering politically. Our society remains fragmented, under strain and haunted by our recent past.  The Sinn Féin and the DUP partnership has neither the will nor the ability to do anything about it.  That’s not good enough.  The SDLP don't believe that is good enough for you, for hardworking families or for the generations to come.  There is a better way to do politics and we want to deliver a new political programme which will see us move towards a new, shared prosperity. Peace should have been the beginning of a new prosperity programme, instead it became the end game and we haven't moved on since.  We can do better.  We can all do better. The SDLP takes our seats in Westminster to uphold the interests of all the people of Northern Ireland.  We will be there for everyone in the North, ensuring we get the best possible deal for all.  The SDLP will negotiate a New Economic  Accord with Westminster, an agreement which recognises that for our economy to grow, the people of the North must be at the heart of that process. In this manifesto we set out our longterm vision for a new, prosperous and selfsufficient Northern Ireland that is a part of a new, shared and reconciled island.  There is a better way.  You deserve a new type of politics  we will deliver it.