The Irish Socialist party withdraws from the ULA new workers party still needed

In new developments I’ve come across our sister section in Ireland part of the CWI the Committee for Workers International has today ended its relationship with the ULA United Left Alliance. This is a great shame I feel but something I think that has become increasingly inevitable given the circumstances and the recent developments in the ULA. A full statement is republished below. The Socialist Party has ended its membership of the ULA. We do so with regret as we initiated the negotiations that led to the ULA and are genuine in our preparedness to work with others on the left in a respectful, democratic and principled fashion. However some in the ULA, including TDs, have moved away from a principled left position and have ditched the collaborative spirit. Apart from the Socialist Party, the other groups in the ULA have accepted this situation, leaving us with no choice but to withdraw. These developments decisively undermined the ULA, which was already in a weakened state as ordinary working class people had not joined it in any significant numbers, along with the withdrawal of the Workers and Unemployed Action Group (Tipperary) last autumn. As a result, any potential that the ULA had of playing a role in building a new mass Left in Ireland is now gone. New opportunities for the political re-organisation of the working class At the same time, the struggle against the Household and Property Tax emerged as a real challenge to the Troika's and the Government's disastrous policy of austerity. This struggle, which more than any other issue encapsulates the opposition to austerity, has now reached a decisive stage with the threat of deducting the tax at source from people's wages and benefits. It is clear that a major struggle on the Property Tax will politicise tens of thousands of people and will give an enormous impetus to the political re-organisation of the working class, something that unfortunately the ULA proved incapable of achieving. The Socialist Party remains committed to building a mass and Democratic Party of the working class and believe that all who are committed to that objective should register the potential significance of the Property Tax issue. At the start of last year 30,000 people attended meetings organised by the Campaign against Household and Water Taxes (CAHWT). 15,000 marched on the Fine Gael Ard Fheis and by the end of the year nearly 700,000 households, 52% of single home owners, had not registered or paid for the Household Tax. The threat to rob people’s wages and benefits at source poses difficulties for the campaign and for ordinary people, but it has also deepened the anger. If a strong lead is given on the Property Tax there is a real possibility of even stronger protests this year than last. An aspect of this struggle should be to connect to the widespread mood to punish Labour and Fine Gael. If out of the struggle came the proposal for a slate or an alliance of anti-Property Tax / anti-austerity candidates for the Local and European Elections next year, that would really ratchet up the pressure on the Government, and on Labour in particular. Such a proposal could gain huge support and could lead to the involvement of thousands of working class people in a political struggle, with the possibility that many working class activists could get elected. Such developments would not only be a massive step towards forcing the scrapping of the Property Tax, but would also represent a big step towards a new mass party of the working class. Lessons from the ULA's demise The original idea of the ULA was for an electoral and parliamentary alliance of groups. On the suggestion of the Socialist Party, a membership was established to try to build a more significant alliance. The launching of the ULA was a positive development coinciding as it did with the imposition of the Troika’s Programme and the looming general election. However, the worsening austerity combined with the abysmal failure of the trade union leadership to mount any struggle against it in the wake of the major public sector strike and mass demonstration in November 2010, dented people’s confidence and there was a tendency to wait and see if the new Fine Gael / Labour Government might be different. Unfortunately, the absence of industrial struggles or battles against austerity, combined with a feeling that there was no alternative to austerity, meant that working class people weren’t pushed towards getting politically involved and the ULA didn’t grow despite many public recruitment meetings. Overwhelmingly the very limited numbers who did join were already established left activists, so instead of growing, the ULA barely got off the mark. Last summer sections of the media consciously used Mick Wallace’s tax evasion and Clare Daly’s close political connection to him to attack the Left. This damaged the Socialist Party and the ULA’s standing as principled Left organisations. The Socialist Party insists that its elected representatives must be politically independent from business or capitalist interests or people who represent such interests, even more so when tax evasion is involved. In this instance, the fact that the Socialist Party was prepared to lose a TD rather than compromise on an important principle meant that we overcame that damage and gained considerable credit among working class people in particular, who strongly disapprove of Mick Wallace's actions. Political independence of the left can't be compromised Unfortunately Clare Daly and another ULA TD, Joan Collins, intensified this political connection with Mick Wallace. They co-presented the X case abortion bill with him in late November. Furthermore on 20 December they organised a major press conference with him, and also Independent TD Luke Flanagan, on the issue of alleged corruption among certain members of the Garda in erasing penalty points for traffic offences. These generated significant media coverage. They consciously chose not to organise on these issues under the ULA banner but instead opted to promote what is essentially a new alliance of parliamentarians who are not of the Left. This was a body blow to the already diminished credibility of the ULA. Just as damning for the future of the ULA as these actions, was the fact that none of the other groups in the alliance, the People Before Profit Alliance, the Independent / Non-aligned Group nor significantly, the Socialist Workers Party, opposed this approach of supposedly being committed to a left project but in practice contradicting that by organising a political alliance with others in the Dáil Technical Group who couldn't at all be characterised as on the Left. On 25 November, at the ULA Council, a motion moved by the Socialist Party on the need to end the political connection with Mick Wallace was voted down by all the other groups. In so doing they assisted in the jettisoning of a cornerstone principle for any left organisation, that it must take seriously its political independence from business interests or forces representing business interests. Around the same time, the “Daly Bill” on the X case was resubmitted for the ULA’s Private Member’s slot on 27 November but, unfortunately, this was done without any consultation and in defiance of a specifically agreed procedure which necessitated discussion and consensus. If the Socialist Party had the opportunity, we were going to advocate that the ULA submit a bill on the X case but that it should be expanded to cater for a risk to a woman’s health as grounds for an abortion, with a view to broadening out the debate and discussion on abortion in the wake of the tragic death of Savita Halappanavar. ULA at an impasse, but a real basis for optimism for the future This subverting of democratic procedure undermined the structures and relations in the ULA. Despite the facts, any wrong doing was denied and again unfortunately, none of the other groups made any serious objection to what had happened when it was raised at the Council meeting. These developments destroyed any basis for principled political collaboration and the ULA has been at an impasse ever since. The ULA is compromised and cannot now be seen as an independent, principled Left alliance nor any longer there be hope that it could prepare the ground for a new mass workers' party in the years ahead. These are the reasons why, as well as the need to avoid any future damaging associations for the party or for struggles that we are involved in, the Socialist Party is withdrawing from the ULA. The Socialist Party is open to work with those who remain in the ULA on specific issues, on an agreed basis, both inside and outside the Dáil. However we believe that the key to building a Left alternative will flow from a serious struggle against the disastrous austerity and bailout agenda and in particular from the involvement of thousands of working class people in the battle against the property and water taxes in the year ahead. Socialist Party members will be among the most active fighters in all aspects of the battle against the Property Tax. As part of that our members will raise in a democratic fashion, locally and nationally, the idea that an anti-Property Tax and anti-austerity challenge in the Local and European Elections in 2014 should be pursued by the campaigns. Such an electoral initiative, combined with the active struggle against the tax and mass mobilisations against the Government, has the potential to pose a more real and substantial opportunity to build a new mass party of the working class. Through the establishment of the ULA, initiated by the Socialist Party, an alternative was posed in half the Dáil constituencies in the last general election. We believe that the hopes engendered for a genuine left and socialist alternative which that stand raised, can be surpassed in the months ahead, if the unprecedented opportunity that the next elections offer, is fully grasped. Full statement and website here http://is.gd/9A4Bhj

Ireland votes yes for fiscal treaty but no mandate for austerity fight continues

With the result of the euro fiscal treaty in Ireland and its results all now in I thought I’d look at the results and what this means to the fight back against austerity and the battle for a better fairer, socialist future .
It is clear to me examine the results closer that many working people where effected by austerity badly voted a strong no. Where the yes vote won was in the middle class’s and those who are on that borderline who still are just getting by, just and just it is as they too will be swallowed up in this crisis in capitalism now due to voting yes and effectively handing over economic powers to the EU to institutionalise austerity on Ireland and limiting their options of a way out. We still do believe as the socialist party and the CWI that there is and can not be any quick fix’s or easy solutions to this crisis on the basis of capitalism as has been shown already with their refusal to look at anything apart from austerity.

We put forward our programme to link to workers in struggle to help workers draw the conclusion that tinkering with the system is not enough and ultimately we must fight for wide scale system change and the defeat of capitalism for the benefit of all people.

This below was the statement from the United Left alliance which the socialist party CWI in Ireland our sister organisation out there in the republic of Ireland are party of and have sitting TD’s and a MEP too in the European Parliament and were part of the No campaign for this recent referendum.

In a statement today the ULA said the people were bullied into voting yes. The Government did not put up any good arguments in support of this treaty. They agreed a blackmail clause with the EU and then used it to bully the people. They said we had no choice even though they took an active part in agreeing to link the treaty with access to funding in the future. Many of those who voted yes did so reluctantly.
Despite the campaign of fear, huge numbers voted against the treaty. Across the country those most affected by austerity have said no and sent a message, particularly to Labour, that they have had enough of austerity. It is now clear that Labour’s way is Frankfurt’s way. Labour will continue to put the boot into ordinary people to pay for the debts of bankers and developers. Labour has no mandate from its supporters to implement austerity.

The ULA is confident that the resistance to austerity in Ireland and Europe will deepen in the next few months. The promise of government that the treaty will bring stability is false. There will be no stability. The treaty does not offer a way out of the economic crises. It will make it worse by institutionalizing austerity across Europe.
We will continue to campaign and mobilize against austerity. We will continue to demand the scrapping of the Household Tax and other policies which impose the burden of bank debt on working people. The ULA will continue to offer a real alternative to the failed policies of austerity.

Ireland : turn EU treaty into treat over austerity and vote no !

As the date for the EU referendum is set to be announced the people of Ireland are left with a big decision and the ULA and the socialist party our sister organization in Ireland is calling for a no vote to reject austerity and fight for an alternative to the crippiling cuts agenda the government is forcing on ordinary working families.

This Treaty is designed to ensure countries service their debt, including private bank debt that has been taken on as sovereign debt – irrespective of the social consequences. The financial crisis caused by bank speculation has led to a collapse in the real economy and a rise in debt relative to output. But the German and French governments, and the ECB, are demanding that the big banks of Europe be protected. They insist that social spending and state investment in the real economy be cut in order to guarantee that the banks get paid.
Paul Murphy MEP said:
The household tax is the first of a raft of taxes that this government will attempt to impose to meet its budget targets for the coming years: €7.2 billion cuts and taxes up to 2015 – followed by up to €5.7 billion if the rules of the Austerity Treaty were imposed in Ireland under current circumstances. We reject this austerity drive: cuts and taxes being imposed on our people in order to support the gambling debts of the banks – debts which are being taken on as sovereign debt. This is not our debt and we call for an end to the payment to all such bank-related debt.
Clare Daly said:
Contrary to the assertions of government ministers, this Treaty would lead to more economic instability. There has been a collapse of private investment in the Irish economy – €32 billion of profits were uninvested in 2010. In the face of this, the Treaty would force Irish governments into more cuts and tax increases, further reducing economic activity and reducing the capacity of the state to service debts. The choice being made is to support the banks, while continuing to drive down living standards and abandoning our people to unemployment, poverty, and declining services.
Joan Collins said:
The Treaty would turn elections into a total sham. It demands that austerity – deficit and debt reduction – be set into our legislative framework with ‘binding force’ and ‘permanent character’. It would be for the European Commission and the European Court of Justice to decide if a country was implementing the Treaty. So no matter what government was elected, or what mass protest movements demanded, budgetary policy would be in the hands of these unelected EU institutions. We reject this denial of democracy – in which a government would be forced to protect the interests of a tiny elite at the expense of the welfare of millions.
Seamus Healy said:
The scaremongering of the government and its supporters – that rejecting of the treaty will lead to us being kicked out of the EU or eurozone – is a lie. Ireland will remain part of the EU and eurozone, but will not support the austerity drive. Nor will Ireland be isolated. A “no’ vote would be a vote for an alternative to the EU policy of protection of the millionaires at the expense of the millions – a vote to link up with people all over Europe who want a decent future and sustainable development.
The ULA calls for a full public debate on the Austerity Treaty. We also hope that the trade union movement will facilitate a full debate amongst their members, who will be adversely effected by the continued austerity required under this Treaty. We will work to maximise a ‘no’ vote and to mobilise for a socially progressive, sustainable alternative to the politics of the Austerity Treaty.
Joe Higgins said:
The government’s only argument to support the Treaty is the Blackmail Clause. This says that Ireland won’t get money for a second ‘bailout’ from the ESM fund if we don’t approve the Austerity Treaty. Fine Gael and Labour agreed to put this Blackmail Clause into the ESM Treaty and the Austerity Treaty. But they also have the power to get it out, because Ireland has a veto over the amendment to the Lisbon Treaty required to bring the ESM into being. If they want a free and honest debate on the Austerity Treaty, they could veto the amendment to Lisbon required for the ESM until the Blackmail Clause is removed. At a minimum, we call for decisions on the ESM Treaty to be put back until after the referendum on the Austerity Treaty.