DUP manifesto pledges to help family incomes grow

DUP leader Arlene Foster has unveiled her party’s manifesto in Belfast, with the loyalists keen to promote other policies while the focus remains on Brexit and how it could affect Northern Ireland.

Here are the main commitments in the party’s General Election manifesto.

– Helping family incomes grow

That would include raising the personal tax allowance in line with inflation and an increase in the national living wage to £10.50 by the end of the parliamentary term.

The party also proposed abolishing the BBC licence fee. It promised to work towards public sector pay rises including the NHS, police and armed forces.

– More infrastructure investment

Considering an energy interconnector with Iceland, where geo-thermal energy is plentiful.

– Security

Adequately funding the security forces and intelligence community to combat dissident republicans.

– Legal protections for soldiers and veterans

The party supported the principle of exploring protections for the armed forces where they would not lead to an amnesty or be restricted to operations outside the UK.

It said the UK Cabinet should meet yearly in Belfast as part of a variety of measures designed to enhance the union.