GERRY Carroll is one of seven People Before Profit candidates running in next month’s Assembly election.
 
Having first been elected to Stormont as an MLA for West Belfast in 2016, taking a seat from Sinn Féin’s Rosie McCorley, he had to quickly find his feet in the chamber. Sitting down with the Andersonstown News ahead of this year’s poll, Gerry said that among the issues that he is having raised on the doorstep is the impact of the cost of living crisis and health waiting lists.
 
“Everybody who is opening the doors to us is talking about price rises and the cost of living,” he said.
 
“For us, we are pointing to the failure of Stormont to do anything substantial or impactful to alleviate the cost of living crisis. The most recent rises in electricity and gas last week emphasises that these corporations are essentially getting away with making record profits while the average person is struggling to pay bills.
 
“There are a lot of actions that Stormont could have and should have taken around that. I proposed back in December that there should be an emergency sitting at Stormont to discuss the impact of the rising energy prices but unfortunately Sinn Féin, the DUP and other parties refused to back that call.
 
“In our view, Stormont should be implementing a £1,000 payment for all families outside of the top 25 per cent of earners. On average people's bills are up by between £1,000 to £2,000 per year.
 

“That would provide some protection and support to keep people’s heads above the water for a bit.”

Mr Carroll argued that these price rises could be offset with a rise in wages and said that his party are arguing for Stormont to have the power to set the minimum wage devolved and for that to be set at £15, a 58 per cent increase on the current minimum wage for those over the age of 23.
 
Gerry Carroll is also calling for utility companies to be nationalised in a move he said will reverse the privatisation brought about by Thatcher.
 
“The case is clear, if you listen to the Chief Executives they are talking about the market and I believe that these companies are using crises like what is happening with Russia and Ukraine to bump up prices. It is horrific what is happening in Ukraine, but prices were rising before Putin invaded.
 
“The market should have no place in delivering public utilities. People cannot live without warm homes and hot water. The only way to resolve that is to kick out the shareholders.”
 
In terms of health waiting lists, Gerry Carroll said that we need to see reform of the health service for the benefit of patients and for health care workers to receive an above inflation pay rise, which he said could be brought about by ending the practice of outsourcing staff contracts to agencies.
 
In their 2017 manifesto, People Before Profit made a commitment to reverse Thatcher’s anti-trade union laws, a process which culminated in Gerry Carroll bringing the recent Trade Union Freedom Bill before the Assembly.
 
The bill was ultimately voted down by the DUP, UUP and Alliance with criticism around the reintroduction of workplace ballots. However, while Mr Carroll described this as “disappointing”, he has committed, if re-elected to bringing further legislation before the Assembly to reverse these laws.
 
When it comes to assessing the failures of the Executive over the last mandate, Gerry Carroll argues that they have failed to implement any measures to protect people.
 
“There are big questions over their handling of Covid,” he continued. “We had at one point, one of the highest death tolls per head of the population in the world. There is a big question over how they handled the pandemic.
 
“We were also told for years that there was no magic money tree, then overnight there was money found for lots of things but we came to the situation where the Executive are handing out £100 million to Capita, giving money to plush golf courses while people are struggling to heat their homes.”
 
Describing his vision for West Belfast over the next five years, Gerry Carroll said that he wants to see everybody join a trade union.
 
“We want to see everyone who is working put in for a higher pay claim, we would like to see trade union legislation with an increase in the number of people active within the trade union movement, we would like to see people who are on benefits have an uplift in their support and we would like to see the eradication of the poverty figures that West Belfast is still blighted by.
 
“Almost 50 per cent of children in West Belfast are living in poverty. It is absolutely sickening that we are seeing billionaires flying to the moon and around space and we still have people who can’t afford to feed their children.”
 
The Assembly election will take place on Thursday 5 May. Eligible voters have until midnight on Thursday 14 April to register to vote.
 
To register for the upcoming election, click here.