PAPER OF THE SOCIALIST PARTY
ISSUE 96
NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2015
INSIDE
We need: l A state funded house building programme l €12 an hour minimum wage l All austerity reversed l An economy organised for need not profit
Build homes for need not profit
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The fight for a Left government
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We need a Left government to
TAke on The 1% socialistpartyireland
Horror in Paris
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Join the Socialist Party Text ‘Join’ to 087 3141986
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November / December 2015
2 THE SOCIALIST
news
52% boycott second water charges bill
Defend and extend non-payment
What you need to know: • Irish Water have no power to deduct from your income • There are no penalties for refusing to pay until June 2016 • Even then, penalties for non-payment are low • In 1996, the Fine Gael / Labour government was forced to abolish water charges as it was simply unable to defeat the non-payment movement • Even those who have paid for previous bills can join in the boycott. This could make a definitive difference! • 52% are not paying the water bills – if more people boycott the third bill we can ratchet up the pressure before the election
By Shane Finnan
A
fter putting it off for as long as they could, irish Water finally had to release the figures for payment of the second water charges bill; 52% of people have boycotted it. We need to spread the important message that non-payment is still a reality and that we can defeat this austerity charge. Even after legislation which allows landlords to demand water charges from new tenants, even after being propped up by the mainstream media and even after all the carrot and stick tactics of this government, the vast majority of working class people are defying Irish Water.
General election looms With the general election only a matter of months away, the movement against water charges is in an extremely favourable position to force the next government, whatev-
majority of people are demanding abolition of the water charge. Coupled with the fact that the majority of people haven't paid the charges, the next government won't be able to ignore the vast hatred in society for this unjust charge.
Support the boycott Non-payment of the third bill must now be fought for
er the makeup, to throw the water charges into the dustbin of this state's history. When canvassers from the main political parties call to your door in the run-up to the general election, you can make it an issue by saying that you will be
voting for anti-water charges and anti-austerity candidates who have been organising the boycott. If a mass of people respond to canvassers at their doorsteps with this line, it will send a cogent message to all political parties that the
Corporate welfare – no austerity for the 1% By manus lenihan
The Right2Water / Right2Change trade unions can play a huge role in mounting pressure on the shoulders of the next government (whoever may be in power). If the trade unions called for non-payment it would mount further political pressure that could compel the next
government to finish the charges for good. The Socialist Party and the AntiAusterity Alliance has said from the very beginning that non-payment of water charges is key to defeating this regressive tax. The stronger it is, the greater the likelihood of the abolition of the charges, as the next government would have an incredibly difficult experience if they are committed to maintaining them. It would be going against the grain of the expectation of the majority of working class people in Irish society. Let’s build the boycott, let’s sink Irish water!
Worker exploitation rife in fishing industry
Taxes slashed in budget The budget included a massive new gift for our already spoiled-rotten multinational corporations. Companies investing in Research & Development now only have to pay a 6.25% corporate tax rate. You have to jump through hoops for every euro you can get on the dole – but big business is getting its already criminally low tax bill cut in half. Besides, anyone involved in industry knows anecdotally about these “R&D projects”, which companies keep warmed-up on the side for years on end just to get grants. We can expect heaps of new token projects under this scheme.
Tax for two smokers = Tax for Starbucks Can you think of two people you know who smoke 20 cigarettes a day each? In one year, those two people pay more tax on their cigarettes than Starbucks pays on all its activity here in Ireland. The argument that “you have to give them tax breaks, or they’ll leave” falls flatly on its face because this company
By Councillor Michael O’Brien
the guArdiAn
newspaper recently published a major exposé about the systematic super exploitation of non-eu migrants in the fishing industry in ireland. however this situation was brought to the government’s attention some years earlier by the office of Joe higgins td among others. In early 2013, at the prompting of Ken Fleming of the International Transport Federation, parliamentary questions were submitted by Joe Higgins to the various responsible Ministers.
doesn’t contribute a thing. Starbucks sends its profits back out of the country and pays less tax than two heavy smokers, and we’re supposed to be grateful that it’s here.
Apple’s €9 billion bill A serious legal challenge is going through Europe on the €9 billion in unpaid tax that Apple owes Ireland- incredibly the government is supporting Apple. Apple CEO Tim Cook says we have nothing to worry about because he expects to get off scot-free. Cook didn’t reassure us that Apple would stay in spite of having to pay taxes; he didn’t reassure us that he would never destroy thousands of jobs just for sordid tax reasons. No, he simply reassured us
Government have questions to answer
that he fully expected Apple to continue getting away with its low-tax scam. With the implication that, if Apple do lose the case and have to cough up the €9 billion they owe us, they will consider leaving.
Specifically in one PQ we put this issue to Minister for Jobs Enterprise and Employment, Richard Bruton and raised the idea of allowing migrant crew in this situation the right to make themselves known to the authorities without fear of prosecution or deportation as recommended by Ken Fleming and the ITF. We were given a perfunctory response from Minister Bruton which clearly did
not treat seriously the belief that the industry was rife with undocumented crew working in dangerous conditions. Minister Bruton furthermore in his answers attributed to his colleague the then Minister for Justice Alan Shatter, the most callous attitude towards crewmen in this situation effectively saying that the state had no obligation to concern itself with the welfare of these workers. Such a response would have only served to reinforce the fear of migrant crewmen rather that assist in bringing it fully out into the public domain and properly enforcing safe work practices.
Action needed now It's to this government's and the Irish media's shame that it took a further two and a half years and a UK newspaper to carry the story to force this issue into the headlines here and onto the political agenda. Action is needed now and an amnesty must be declared for undocumented migrant workers in the fishing industry working in dangerous conditions. The trade union movement must take action to ensure this happens.
November / December 2015
3 THE SOCIALIST
from Capital Gains Tax for investment properties not sold for seven years and exempting Real Estate Investment Trusts, which have rapidly become Ireland’s biggest landlords and are hiking up rents across Dublin, from almost all forms of tax. However it is NAMA that has been the main life support machine for the developers that crashed the economy. €40 billion of their debts are being written off and now the NAMA corporate welfare machine is cranking up a gear by lending €4.5 billion of our money to developers at low interest rates so they can make a profit from building expensive new houses the vast majority of us can’t afford.
By Diana O’Dwyer
e
very dAy now, the numbers of homeless families and children are rising, tenants and mortgage-holders are being evicted, rents are increasing, and the supply of affordable accommodation is falling. eight years since the crash, we face the worst housing crisis in decades. in excess of 300,000 people are on the housing list and average wage earners are forced to spend 40% of their income on rent.
Fewer council houses since independence But despite Alan Kelly’s claims of “the largest housing programme, probably in the history of the state”, the government’s own statistics show only 20 council houses were built in the first six months of the year – and none in the second quarter. In fact, FG-Labour have built fewer council houses than any government since independence. The reason the government hasn’t solved the housing crisis is that it is not currently profitable enough for private landowners, developers and builders to supply enough new housing. When the property bubble burst, it left a massive over-supply of 230,000 vacant houses and apartments. Along with the bursting of the credit bubble, this temporarily drove down house prices and rents. The rational response from a
Build council and affordable homes The government has built just 20 homes this year
capitalist’s perspective was to stop building houses until prices were high enough again to restore their rates of profit. During the bubble, profit margins for landowners and developers were massive. Manor Park House builders had a profit margin of 41% in 2006 – before going bust at our expense.
An unproductive system Viewed from this angle, government ‘housing’ policy makes a lot more sense. Virtually everything FF-Greens and FG-Labour have done since 2008 has been about
restoring rates of profit so capitalists will end their investment strike. This is the underlying objective of government policy because banking, property and construction are the most important sources of profit for indigenous Irish capitalists, who prefer to speculate on land and rent out housing and money capital rather than do anything more productive. Unfortunately for FG-Labour, austerity destroyed the real, productive economy to such an extent that it wasn’t possible to restore the rate of profit solely through the usual means of encouraging price inflation. Wages fell so much that
people simply couldn't pay high enough house prices and rents and the credit bubble method of jacking up prices regardless of wages was no longer feasible so soon after the developed world’s worst ever banking and property crash.
Corporate welfare So what the government has done instead is dole out corporate welfare to builders, developers and landlords and lure foreign investors into Ireland to provide new sources of investment capital. This has meant massive tax breaks, such as a total exemption
What we need instead is at least 100,000 council homes as well as providing affordable homes directly built by the state at cost price. This could halve the cost of housing by eliminating profiteering. 93,000 houses were built in 2006 because it was profitable to do, showing construction on this scale is possible when the right ‘incentives’ exist. We must give the government that incentive through mass campaigns of militant direct action, as last happened during the housing crisis of the late 1960s and early 1970s. The conditions are ripe for this to happen again as the only way the crisis can be resolved in the interests of the 99% rather than the profits of the 1%.
Labour surrenders on rent control By Mick Barry IT’S ThE biggest rents crisis in the history of the State. Thousands of people have been completely priced out of the rental market. Tens of thousands live just one rent increase away from homelessness. Many may welcome the new “one rent increase every two years” rule as a straw to grasp onto in this crisis. But the reality is that the new rule will not stop rent increases from galloping ahead of inflation.
Double digit rent increases A proposal which would have done so was unfortunately taken off the table by the Labour Party. Minister Kelly’s original proposal was for rents to be index linked to the consumer price index. In the context of low inflation this was a proposal to provide a guaranteed legal block to the kind of crazy double
digit rent hikes we have witnessed in recent times. The proposal was, in some respects, inadequate given that it was aimed at limiting the rate of increase in the price of rent rather than to freeze it or to cut it. Nevertheless, the proposal had significant merit. Not surprisingly it was strongly opposed by Fine Gael and the landlord lobby. After a long standoff Alan Kelly withdrew his proposal and surrendered the opportunity to make radical rent control legislation the law of the land.
the PRTB that raised rents are justified by being in line with local rent rates. But will landlords be free to raise rents to the highest local level provided they can find three examples in line with their new rates? And if they are already at the highest level what’s to stop 10 landlords raising their rates? As long as three of the rent increases go through won’t a new ceiling have been established and won’t other landlords be within their legal rights to follow suit?
Rents will keep rising
The Government’s package includes some measures to increase housing supply. Most of these measures involve offering “incentives” to developers to build more houses and apartments. The need is greater than ever now for grassroots housing action campaigns to defend tenants’ rights and push forward for the kind of real change the Labour Party have failed to deliver.
Labour now trumpet the fact that landlords will now be restricted to one rent increase every two years (for the next four years). But this means that many landlords will now opt for one bigger increase every two years rather than two smaller increases annually. Labour also say that landlords will have to provide evidence to
Labour fails again
Alan Kelly and Labour capitulated to the landlord lobby
housing
Build homes for need not profit
4
November / December 2015
special feature
THE SO
the fight for a l Real change requires system change After seven years and €31 billion worth of austerity, we are told that we are in the midst of an economic recovery, writes CILLIAn GILLesPIe. However, for most people this recovery means a new housing crisis, skyrocketing rents and the creation of low paid temporary jobs.
t
here is now a working poor in our society, with 25% of the workforce earning less than the living wage of €11.50 an hour. ireland, like all capitalist countries, has seen a steep rise in inequality; in the last five years the richest 300 people have seen their wealth rise by an obscene €34 billion. in this same period austerity measure after austerity measure was implemented in the form of extra taxes and cuts to social services and expenditure. All of this is the by-product of a capitalist system where the economy is organised for private profit not human need. Fundamentally the parties of the political establishment, who have been in power since 2008, accept the rationale of this system.
During the crisis the consensus amongst all these parties was that austerity and the bailing out of the banking system to the tune of €64 billion was necessary and unavoidable. As long as parties that accept the logic of capitalism are in power the interests of the 1% will be prioritised at the expense of our living standards.
Prioritise human need not profit We need a government that is going to prioritise our needs. This means building 100,000 council homes to rent or buy in the next three years, introducing rent controls, massively increasingly public expenditure on health, education and childcare to create jobs and reverse the brutal effects of austerity, and introducing a
Syriza government had a real chance to defeat the Troika and austerity after 61% “OXI” vote
minimum wage of €12 an hour. However if we are to meet the needs of the 99% a left government must find the resources to do so. The odious debt created by the property crash of 2008/2009 must be repudiated (Ireland spends €7 billion per annum on the interest on this debt). The corporate welfare of €9 billion per annum must be ended and a wealth tax on the super-rich must be
introduced as well as increasing corporation tax from its pitifully low level. A government that takes these kind of measures must be prepared to challenge capitalism; a system based on the rule of the super-rich, bondholders, bankers and big business, both here in Ireland and in Europe. We cannot allow ourselves to be constrained by the logic and the rules of a system that seeks to
Massive potential for new Left movement By Kevin McLoughlin hristmAs is coming, so C too is the general election and the political games involv-
ing the four main parties. however, there is an alternative to the political horse trading where the interests of working class people are just a chip to be bartered with so that these parties can gain power. We need a wholly new political movement that represents and also organises the working class majority to fight for real change. Socialist Party members and AAA TDs, Paul Murphy and Ruth Coppinger were the first representatives to advocate that the opposition to water charges should be the basis for such a movement.
Potential for new political movement Paul called for this in his speech to the mass demonstration on December 10, 2014, and Ruth detailed how the water charges movement could seriously challenge in every area in the general election later that evening on “Tonight with Vincent Browne”. At any point over the last year – had the Right2Water
Lesson of Greece There are salient lessons that be drawn from the period in the after the election of the Syriza in February. Less than six months after it was elected it had capitulated to the
What the
trade unions gone into each area and called for a mass political assembly with a view to standing candidates on a non-payment and full anti-austerity platform, people would have queued out the doors and a new mass movement would have been established. It could have done so in an explosive manner just as Podemos and Syriza emerged in Spain and Greece. Even now, with four months to go to an election, the unions and activists could still pull something really powerful together. Between January and early March 2012, the Campaign Against Home and Water Taxes (CAHWT) with limited resources organised over 100 public meetings in all areas attended by over 30,000 people.
Unfortunately, what the AAA stan some in the anti-water charges m
So to be clear, the AAA will figh people’s votes on the basis of:
1. Standing up to big business int and deliver real change
2. No coalition with Fianna Fail, Fi
3. Abolish the USC, property and public building programme to pro minimum wage to €12 and revers
4. Make people’s needs not profit
We believe this is the type of real hope as many as possible from th uine activists/Independents and f stand and get elected.
Right2Change The conditions for launching a new political movement are much more favourable now than in 2012. In any event, we would encourage activists and communities to take the initiative and get organised and unite with others around the country and stand on a fighting platform of nonpayment of water charges, for a reversal of austerity and an end to
impose austerity and cuts workers’ wages so that the profits and wealth of a tiny elite can be maximised.
The AAA is committed to building a new movement for the working class
economic inequality. Such a grassroots challenge is necessary as unfortunately Right2Change has taken a problematic path. Even though the AAA said it supported the ten principles put forward by
Right2Change, we have been excluded from it because we explained that to actually achieve the principles, a government would have to challenge big business interests and stand up to the bullying of the Troika.
The AAA will discuss with parti election to see if a genuine Left g on this platform.
Need to break EU rules Unfortunately, the small print added late to the principles document by the unions, limits the scope for a new
November / December 2015
5
OCIALIST
Can Sinn Féin deliver for the 99%? implementing capital controls, nationalising the banking system and key industries under democratic workers control and management. The veracity of this argument was born out when these forces sought to engage in economic terrorism in the form of cutting off money to Greece’s banks and through a flight of capital out of Greece in the months following Syriza’s election.
Radical socialist policies
Troika and are now implementing austerity and a privatisation package of €50 billion. From the very outset of its election the Socialist Party and our sister organisation in Greece, Xekinima argued that if austerity, the Troika and Greek capitalism were to be defeated Syriza would need to implement anti-capitalist, socialist policies. These policies would include
Capitalism cannot simply be defeated through parliamentary decrees, the power of working class people needs to be mobilised on the streets and in the workplaces. The potential for mobilising this power in Greece was illustrated by the fact that 61% voted no or “Oxi” in a referendum on the Troika’s austerity package, courageously resisting the threats and blackmail of the institutions of European capitalism. On the Friday before the referendum a staggering 200,000 people assembled in central Athens in support of rejecting the new austerity programme. There is growing desire for a radical break with the orthodoxy of neoliberalism and austerity among working class and young people but it is imperative we do not repeat the mistakes of Syriza and once again betray the hopes and aspirations of the majority in our society. The real change that we need requires the active struggle of working class people allied with a radical left government based on socialist policies that breaks the stranglehold of a parasitic ruling class that dominate our lives.
stands for
nds for has been distorted by movement itself.
ht the general election and seeks
terests and the bullies in the EU
ine Gael or Labour
water taxes; launch a massive ovide affordable homes; raise the se all austerity cuts
t the basis of the economy
change that people need and he water charges movement, genfrom other left / socialist parties,
ies and individuals after the next government can be formed based
government, saying it must generally operate within the very strict spending rules of the EU. A document, which is now the companion to the principles, the “Fiscal Framework
Document”, rolls back significantly on the principles themselves. Even though the principles for Right2Change correctly call for “Right2Housing”, “Right2Health” and “Right2Education”, the document only calls for an additional €3.2 billion to be invested over four years (2017-2020) in capital expenditure i.e. spending on building homes, hospitals, school and infrastructure projects. Even if all of this were spent on the building of council homes (with no schools or hospitals being built) at current building cost this would only build an additional 17,777 homes - significantly short of what is needed. The document itself says a government would need to make a number of specific appeals to the Troika and would have to hope to get a dispensation from rules of the EU so it could increase expenditure. However the experience of Syriza shows that negotiating a fair deal with the Troika is fanciful. Right2Change’s idea of pulling together an anti-austerity and antiestablishment government is also severely undermined by the statements by Gerry Adams and Padraig MacLochlainn that Sinn Fein should consider doing a deal with Fianna Fail and Labour.
Sinn Féin leaders have signalled their intent to go into coalition with Fianna Fáil
By Laura Fitzgerald UnFoRTUnATELy, DESPITE Sinn Féin signing up to the Right2Change initiative that gives a different appearance, Sinn Féin are in fact moderating their rhetoric as they come closer to power in a rightward shift. not only is Sinn Féin’s record on water charges weak with its continued refusal to advocate non-payment of the water charges, Sinn Fein have repeatedly indicated their openness to go into coalition with Fianna Fáil and Labour.
Coalition with FF and Labour At a Sinn Féin press conference reported on in the Irish Times on 16 September, Gerry Adams, when asked who Sinn Fein would be prepared to coalesce with, answered “whoever is successful in the election” – in other words, any party of the establishment. On 18 October, in an interview with the Sunday Times, Sinn Féin TD, Padraig McLochlainn said it would be “foolish” to rule out Sinn Féin forming a coalition with Fianna Fáil. At Sinn Féin’s Ard Fheis in March 2015, there was a vote in favour of a ‘left-led’ government. Despite its radical gloss, this is a green light for Sinn Féin to coalesce with anyone, most likely Fianna Fáil, the idea being that Sinn Féin would be the bigger party in such a government. McLochlainn’s comments were significant. Most likely, he was engaged in a Sinn Féin leadership sanctioned ‘kite-flying’ exercise to indicate that Sinn Féin might stretch the ‘left-led’ notion even more outlandishly. In the instance of Fianna Fáil having more seats than Sinn Féin, a government of Fianna Fáil, Sinn Féin and Labour could be considered ‘left led’ if Sinn Féin and Labour together had more seats than Fianna Fáil! There is desperation for an alternative on behalf of swathes of working class people given how much they continue to suffer under the austerity juggernaut. It’s very regrettable that the Trade Union officials involved in R2W / R2C are using this desperation, as well as an understandable desire for ‘unity’ to try to silence any discussion on the reality, that not only are Sinn Féin preparing to potentially put Fianna Fail back into power, but that this a comment in and of itself on Sinn Fein’s own political positions and trajectory.
Moving to the right In Dublin City Council, Sinn Féin voted in favour of an austerity Budget in November that despite a massive housing crisis, contains a provision for the council to build a paltry 310 houses in the next three years. Similarly, on the basis of Sinn Féin’s Alternative Budget housing proposals from October, it would take over 30 years to provide social housing for those on the housing waiting lists nationally. On 22 September, Gerry Adams addressed the Dublin Chamber of Commerce. In his speech, Adams explained how Sinn Féin, a “pro-enterprise
Sinn Féin have refused to call for a boycott
party”, expressed sympathy with what businesses that have cut pay and jobs: "We know that businesses across this state have faced unprecedented challenges over the last seven years. Those that have survived have had to make tough decisions to keep their doors open... Wage bills were cut... and operations downsized”. Sinn Féin’s big-business donors in the US are also much publicised and include major US construction companies and the New York company, Marjam Supply that was reprimanded by a state equality agency because its staff were subject to racial abuse.
A living contradiction Sinn Féin is a living contradiction. It claims to represent working people and the victims of austerity, yet is continually reaching out the hand of friendship to those that profit from austerity and workers’ exploitation – big business. This contradiction finds concrete expression in the North. Sinn Féin in power has signed up to austerity including 20,000 public sector job losses. Furthermore, their very maintenance of power in the North rests on a vile enemy of working class interests – sectarian division. In a despicable leaflet distributed by Gerry Kelly, Sinn Féin MLA in Belfast for elections in May 2015, a bar chart is given detailing how many Catholics and how many Protestants are in the constituency with the crass headline: “Sinn Féin can WIN in North Belfast”.
The interests of the 99% We need a left force in this country that is prepared to represent the interests of the 99% and their interests alone. It would appear Sinn Féin are unwilling to do this. We must learn lessons from Syriza about the need to build a new working class political movement that fights for socialist policies and an anti-capitalist left Government that will break the rules of the EU and the market.
special feature
left government
November / December 2015
6
international
THE SOCIALIST
Stunning victory for socialist in Seattle By Carah Daniel he AmAzing victory of t socialist Alternative candidate Kshama sawant in the
election to seattle City Council is definitely a clear indication of the desire for a genuine alternative to capitalism on the part of working class. not only was she elected in 2013, she was re-elected too at the beginning of november!
An unapologetic socialist She has been completely unapologetic in her socialist views and has been the face of anti-corporation politics in Seattle. Kshama Sawant is a councillor who represents ordinary people. She represents tenants, workers, people of colour, LGBTQ people, immigrants and indigenous people. The campaign had 600 volunteers and the support of 30 union organisations and many other progressive organisations including a number of trade unions. Unlike other candidates, Kshama Sawant’s campaign was not funded by corporations and all of the donations came from working class people. However, the campaign was seriously attacked by the big businesses who injected funds into the campaigns of her opponents.
Big business goes on the attack These big businesses included Amazon, real estate and landlord lobbies, six conservative council members and even some Republican millionaires. Kshama has played a leading role in the successful battle for a $15 minimum wage in Seattle, so it’s no surprise that the Washington Restaurant Association gave thousands of dollars in donations to Kshama’s opponents. Her election campaign showed what she stood for and what people demanded; putting the needs of people before the needs of big corporations. Kshama Sawant has been described by the media as “the most important socialist in America not named Bernie Sanders” and her victory in Seattle paired with the huge support gathering behind Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign definitely signals the demand for an alternative to corporate politics. Other candidates from the Presidential election campaign are not going to represent the interests of the 99%. They will represent the capitalist big businesses from which they get their funding from.
A voice for the 99% Like Kshama, Bernie Sanders refuses to accept donations from big businesses, which is something the corporations will use in an
Kshama Sawant received 56% in the election to Seattle’s district 3
attempt to defeat the campaign. There’s an opportunity to use the stunning victory of Kshama Sawant’s campaign and the momentum behind Bernie Sanders in the Presidential election to offer a genuine socialist alternative and give people hope and courage. However, Sanders will need to break with the corporate Democratic party machine. The reelection of Kshama Sawant was a huge victory for the left in the US and really illustrates the demand for change.
Right wing thrown out of power in Portugal Cavaco Silva laid out the antidemocratic nature of capitalism today with unusual clarity saying: “It is my duty, within my constitutional powers, to do everything possible to prevent false signals being sent to financial institutions and markets” It is very positive that the attempts of the right to cling to power have failed and that the PaF government was ousted by a vote in the National Assembly on November 9. It is correct for the left parties to use their votes in parliament to block the right wing and to allow the ‘Socialist’ Party to come to power. This would be a recognition of the part of the PCP and Left Block of the desires of working class to get rid of a government led by the traditional right in Portugal.
By Conor Payne ThE PoRTUGUESE elections of october 4 were presented in the international media as a victory for the outgoing austerity government. In reality, the right-wing PaF coalition, while remaining the largest bloc, received only 38.6% of the vote and lost its majority.
Breakthrough for radical left While the pro-troika ‘centre-left’ Socialist Party (PS) had only minor gains (getting 32.3%), the radical left made a breakthrough. The combined vote of the Left Bloc and the Portuguese Communist Party (PCP) was 18.5%. The rejection of the right-wing by the majority of the population reflected mass opposition to their austerity policies; cuts to social spending, privatisations and attacks on workers rights. These policies began under the previous PS administration and the Right were planning to stay in power by forming a ‘grand coalition’ government with them. However, the pres-
Left Bloc and PCP must fight for a an anti-austerity government
sure from the left and the recognition that coalition with the right could destroy them led the PS to refuse this deal. Instead, they look like taking power based on the votes of the Left Bloc and Communist Party.
Undemocratic manoeuvring This prospect led to the outrageous attempt of the President, Cavaco Silva, to prevent this new government being formed, despite its majority.
For a real left government However, it is a mistake to present this new government as a ‘left government’ and for the Left block and PCP to prop it up regardless of the policies it implements. The Socialist Party, while now promising a number of positive reforms, have been
responsible for implementing austerity and a committed to remaining within the straightjacket of the EU fiscal rules. This will be completely incompatible with any aspirations to reverse cuts or invest in services and jobs and the government will quickly be presented with the choice between honouring their commitments to working people and their commitments to the rules of capitalism in the EU. Given the record of the PS, it is clear what their choice will be, but the left must not allow itself to drawn into this logic. The Left Bloc and Communist Party must combine tactical voting to allow the PS government to come to power and any progressive measures they do introduce with a clear explanation of the real pro-austerity nature of the PS. They must also actively mobilise and organise to win the demands which the Left places on this new government. This means in reality preparing the ground politically to bring the government down if it fails to really break with austerity, and fighting for a real left government prepared to reject the rules of the capitalist system.
November / December 2015
7 THE SOCIALIST
No to terror attacks, racism and war
its wars for oil and profits. The genuine poverty in which whole sections of the population are plunged can only lead to despair and confusion which plays into the hands of the reactionaries and those who would divide us. The policies pursued in the Middle East and Africa can only promote further chaos. The consequences will be terrible for ordinary workers who will pay the price while politicians use the situation to provide further justification for their wars. In those countries terrorist groups, whose only motivation is pillage and contraband, reap generalised despair and use it to send out suicide bombers while the leaders live in palaces. More war will only bring more terrorism !
Extract from statement produced by Gauche Revolutionaire, the sister organisation of the Socialist Party in France.
n
othing CAn justify these mindless attacks which took place on the same friday in paris, Bagdad and nigeria, nor the attacks on a Beirut market on 12 november, nor in Ankara on 10 october, nor in tunisia. We grieve today for our brothers and sisters, workers, young people, jobless, single parents, pensioners, irrespective of their background or heritage.
Cowardice exemplified We condemn these attacks and the blind cowardice behind them. To execute defenceless people in cold blood reveals a far right ideology, whatever the supposedly religious or other excuses offered. Incapable of winning support among any section of the population, and certainly not among Muslims, the terrorists of ISIS, who have claimed responsibility for these attacks, use methods which are exactly the same as fascist groups, state dictatorships, and armies of occupation.
not our war Politicians, from the Front National
Unity against division
In the space of 24 hours ISIS carried out terror attacks in Paris, Beirut and Bagdad
to the PS (Socialist Party), are all united in their talk of ‘war’. A war they created and for which the people are paying the price today. But this is not our war. This government of ours continues to support the regime of the President of Turkey Erdogan. This is the same Erdogan who has for years been aiding ISIS, by allowing the terrorists and their contraband to cross
the frontier, while keeping it firmly closed to the people of Kobane, a Kurdish town in the north of Syria which resisted and defeated ISIS last January. This same Erdogan bombs towns in Turkish Kurdistan, yet it is the Kurds who have just freed the Iraqi town of Sinjar from ISIS occupation. It is the governments of Europe who sustain the regimes in Qatar
and Saudi Arabia, and sell arms to them, at the same time as these countries support ISIS and engage in mass killings in Yemen. More war brings more terrorism It’s essential that the organisations of the workers’ movement, trade unions, parties, campaign groups, unite and declare their opposition to war and to the murderous policies of capitalism and
How much longer are we going to pay for a system which wages military, economic and social war a majority of the population of the planet to create profits for a handful who are safe and comfortable ? And we are expected to suffer the worst terror, death, mistrust and fear. Enough ! We won’t let the racists, the far right like the FN and reactionaries win ! We will not be intimidated and divided, we will continue to fight for a tolerant and co-operative society, freed from capitalism and exploitation, for a democratic socialist society.
End anti-Traveller racism By Aprille Scully Ast month, the horrific L death of 10 travellers (5 adults, 5 children) who per-
ished in a fire in Carrickmines threw light on the terrible conditions that the travelling community live in. The Glenamuck Road site, where the fire broke out, had 29 people sleeping in three portacabins and two caravans. The families have been housed there “temporarily” for the last seven years. Many of these ‘temporary’ sites across the country are grossly overcrowded. On some sites there is only one cold tap between eight or nine families, on another, 20 people share one toilet. Many Traveller families across the state face the same fire safety risks due to overcrowding and poor maintenance.
Cuts to Traveller accommodation By definition, a permanent halting site would have a bathroom and washing facilities. It would be connected to a sewer and have access to electricity. The site would meet the relevant fire safety requirements. But this is too excessive according to the government. Funding to provide Traveller accommodation has gone from € 70 million in 2008 to €4.3 million in 2015 - a cut of 93%. The deprivation the community faces is catastrophic. According to
the 2011 census, unemployment in the travelling community is 84.3%, a ten percent worsening from 2006. The stigma Travellers face means some deny their cultural background for fear of being discriminated against.
Whipping up antiTraveller racism The discriminatory attitudes has been demonstrated in a number of high-profile incidents. In 2013, Donegal Fianna Fáil councillor Sean McEniff suggested Travellers should be segregated and kept apart from the non-travelling community. Whipping up reaction in last year’s local elections, Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown Fine Gael councillor, Josepha Madigan opposed proposed Traveller accommodation describing it as “a waste of valuable resources”. Incredibly, Madigan then tweeted her ‘sympathies’ to the victims of the fire at Carrickmines. Similarly, Taoiseach Enda Kenny offered his “sincerest sympathies” to the families and friends affected by the tragedy, but this is shallow and disingenuous when the government’s racist cuts put every Traveller’s life at risk.
Recognise Travellers’ ethnicity The passing of legislation such as the Casual Trading Act (2005) and Roads Act (1993), have tightened
Traveller rights protest outside the Dáil, slogans included “Traveller Lives Matter”
the screws on the Travelling community and their culture. The state continues to refuse to recognise Traveller ethnicity. Only this month a motion calling for the state to grant ethnic minority status to Travellers was voted down by Fine Gael and the Labour Party. Recognition of Travellers rights and ethnicity was recommended by the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Traveller Ethnicity in April 2014 as well as the international human rights treaties that the Irish state have signed up to. Ethnicity would give travellers
more protection under international law and their status could be used to put pressure on the government and local councils to provide better services. The mistreatment Travellers are subjected to by the state means cases could be taken against them on the international courts. 1998 equality legislation has made discrimination against Travellers a criminal offence but there is no will from the establishment to ensure equality for travellers. In fact they deliberately use racism to scapegoat the community.
Stop discrimination Travellers are the primary victims of a capitalist system built on inequality and where the priorities of an economy lie in maximising profits for a few instead of prioritising the needs of the majority, including the right to a decent home and proper health and education. There is a real need for a political alternative that fights for a democratic socialist society based on human solidarity, not racist division like we have seen against Travellers over many years.
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PAPER OF THE SOCIALIST PARTY
ISSUE 96
NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2015
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