Belfast West

Re: Stormont should be reformed so no one party has the ability to pull it down. The DUP's boycott of the Assembly was undemocratic, sectarian, and self-serving. People Before Profit is opposed to communal designations and divisions at Stormont which make Stormont fundamentally unstable and are rooted in sectarianism. Any political configuration which delivers on the needs of working class people must seek to overcome sectarianism. It is not sufficient to force parties to govern together on a communalised basis. The Assembly was collapsed in 2017 due to the corruption involved in the RHI scandal. It was kept down due to the democratic, progressive, and grassroots demands for Irish language legislation. On this occasion, the Irish language community rightly insisted that parties should not re-enter government without delivering on their rights. Stormont should not be maintained at a cost to ordinary people. Re: The state of Palestine should be officially recognised. Recognition of the state of Palestine is a welcome if symbolic demand that can raise awareness about the plight of the Palestinian people. However, Israel has continued to encroach on Palestinian territory since the signing of the Oslo Accords, destroying Palestinian homes and expanding its illegal settlements. The Palestinian people must be afforded the full right to self-determination, which will necessitate the dismantling of the apartheid Israeli state and the right to return for all Palestinian refugees. A single, democratic state is in the best interests of all who live in the region.

All conversion therapy should be banned including brainwashing children into thinking they are trans.

"Subsidies should be divested from air travel and invested into the train network, making it a greener and more affordable alternative to flying" - By only investing in trains we risk entrenching the issues of a lack of infrastructure West of the Bann and in areas across Northern Ireland where there simply is no rail infrastructure. Greens have always supported rail and in government, both in Scotland and in Ireland, Greens have made historical investment in rail. The rail network in Northern Ireland needs to be expanded to those historically underserved areas and better connected to the rest of the Island. However the rural bus network and other solutions like the Belfast Glider or new light rail need to also receive support. As an alternative specifically to flying we need to develop ferry travel and ensure that the sea ports are better connected in order to allow people to choose to travel in a more sustainable way.