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Political policing stepped up as...

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BOYCOTT IRISH WATER

SePtember 2015

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Ruth Coppinger on Housing crisis

Joe Higgins on plight of migrants in Europe

Paul Murphy on political policing

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September 2015

news

THE SOCIALIST

Capitalist recovery: This is as good as it gets Can you feel it? they’ve been talking up the “economic recovery” full blast for nearly two years now. from the way the ministers and the media went on you would think that we'd all be living off the fat of the land by now. yet 79% have felt absolutely no benefit from the “recovery”, and 40% are actually worse off than last year (irish independent, 02/8/15). all these people “need to look at the bigger picture”, insists minister richard bruton (rte radio, 27/8/15). Well, here’s a run-down of the bigger picture as we see it in The Socialist: recovery for the rich, misery for the rest.

look at housing. back in 2012, 8 families a month were being made homeless in Dublin. this July, 77 Dublin families lost their homes. the government’s response? build 2,000 houses each year until 2020 – while the waiting list is six digits long! of course, it suits some sections of society for things to be this way. banks and landlords make big bucks from economic evictions

school for a year costs on average €800, while college fees are €3,000. the inmo’s trolley and Ward Watch paints a daily picture of people waiting in a&e for hours while desperately overworked staff try to do their best in awful conditions.

and a housing crisis. for everyone else, the rent soars and house-hunting is a nightmare. look at “the bigger picture”: if you happen to own a load of houses, you have every reason to crack open the champagne.

Unemployment or JobBridge? Choice or threat? What about unemployment? the rate is around 9-10% – lower than a few years ago, but even if you’re not unemployed anymore things still don’t look so hot. When they crow about the statistics, the politicians would like us to forget that hundreds of thousands, of mainly young people, have left the country. or you might be on an unpaid labour scheme like Jobbridge or Gateway. and as we have reported before, the government are not shy about inflat-

79% feel no benefit from economic “recovery”

Banks & landlords: They’ve never had it so good

by manuS lenihan

What billionaire tripled his wealth? Scene from one of Ireland’s many overcrowded hospitals

ing the stats with accounting tricks.

Profits up, workers’ rights down you could have a job, but still, your wages are so low rent and the cost of living are so high – that you have the same or less than you had on the dole. nine percent of irish workers are on or very near the minimum wage; nearly one in four earns below a living wage. along with the uS, ireland has the highest percentage of low-paid workers in the

advanced capitalist countries according to finfacts. the rate of precarious work has surged from 27% of new jobs in 2006 to 48% in 2011-12 (neri). all these things are awful, obviously… unless you are one of the bosses.

Richest 300 have €84bn – 68% increase since 2010

You can’t sweeten austerity there are promises of little sweeteners in the next budget, but they don’t exactly make our mouths water when previous cuts aren’t being reversed and new cuts just keep on coming. many lone parents have been hit to the tune of €80 a week – some even more. Sending a kid to

Nearly one in four workers earns less than a living wage Homeless family in Dublin living in car

JobBridge: Labour’s insult to the unemployed By Dave Murphy

obbridge, the statesponsored free labour scheme, is to be reviewed and possibly scrapped by the end of next year. this is a calculated move by the government, and in particular the Labour Party, in order to put some distance between themselves and this hated, exploitative scheme just before a general election. Potentially ending the scheme will fit into their ‘recovery’ narrative – they will say that the scheme is not needed anymore since the economy is apparently awash with real jobs! This is despite the fact that the spectre of unemployment hangs over whole communities. Unemployment still hovers just below 10%. Youth unemployment is higher at 22%, and underemployment is higher again. Many of the jobs which have been created are for poverty wages, and the prevalence of precarious and low-hour contracts has increased. The introduction and champi-

oning of JobBridge by the Labour Party, and the lack of opposition to it by sections of the trade union movement, were a stab in the back to workers and the unemployed. The scheme attacks the unemployed while at the same time increasing the downward pressure on wages.

Blaming the unemployed Labour have used schemes like JobBridge to transfer the blame for the unemployment crisis from the capitalist system onto the shoulders of the unemployed. JobBridge turned the unemployed into cannon fodder for exploitative companies to increase their profits through this state-sponsored free labour scheme under the guise of 9 month ‘internships’, while at the same time penalties were introduced for those who refused to take part. This is a fundamental attack on the welfare state and a witch-hunt of the unemployed, particularly the youth, being conducted and orchestrated by Joan ‘Thatcher’ Burton.

Picket on company using Jobbridge free labour

Labour’s betrayal The Labour Party has facilitated a situation where bosses are using JobBridge not just as a source of free labour but as a stick with which to beat their existing workers and lower wage levels. As previously paid positions are replaced

Without fail, every year since the crisis began the 300 wealthiest people in the country just happened to have gotten richer by billions while the rest of us suffered. from €50 billion in 2010, they broke €84 billion last year. Denis o’brien is part of the class in society that has every reason to be excited about the recovery. o’brien has tripled his fortune since the start of the economic crisis, to €6.7 billion.

with internships, staff are frightened into not looking for pay increases or accepting pay cuts for fear that they will be replaced. JobBridge is a betrayal of what the founders of the Labour Party stood for. Though under the same name, it is obvious that there is nothing in common between Burton’s party and Connolly’s.

What recovery you may ask the entire establishment and media promised us that if we accepted austerity for a few years things would get better again. they lied. it’s been eight long, grim years and our reward for “taking the medicine” is the situation we’ve described here. the politicians keep saying that we’ll soon be all seeing “the benefits of the recovery”. but if we follow these rules and don’t challenge the system, this is as good as it gets. the recovery is in full swing – and this is what it looks like.

Labour TDs face €1 an hour jobs? The cynic would say, that facing electoral obliteration and therefore unemployment, Labour Party TDs (the architects of slave labour schemes like JobBridge) don’t fancy the prospect of being forced to work for nine months for €1 an hour. Hence, they are attempting to scrap the scheme before they are forced to. Surely, they will follow the advice which Joan Burton has dished out to the unemployed ad nauseam, and know that they will need to ‘up-skill’ to get a new job after years spent in the Dáil. Surely a stint on JobBridge as a sandwich-artist in Subway for Alan Kelly or a nine month internship as a forecourt attendant for Ciara Conway might improve their future employment prospects?

September 2015

3 THE SOCIALIST

increase in rent supplement and became homeless. But three nights in a "Landlords Castleknock hotel was the are harassing peoequivalent of ple out of properties, her full calling continually, taking month's rent allowance. photos, putting up 'For The cause Sale' signs outside." – of the housTessie, Dublin 15 ing crisis is capitalism itself which puts profit before the needs of people. Only by taking the construction industry and banking into public ownership and control can this nightmare be resolved. It was public investment in largescale council house building which dealt with the two previous acute housing crises in the 1930s and 1970s.

By Ruth Coppinger TD

omeLessness is now an epidemic. rents are in cities. rocketing dysfunctional banks won't give mortgages to ordinary workers. more than 100,000 families wait for non-existent social housing. it's arguably the state's worst housing crisis while the government boasts of 'recovery ireland.' This crisis was completely predictable. Successive governments collapsed social and affordable home-building. Even during the boom, there was always a shortfall. But since the economic crisis, capital spending on social housing in Ireland was cut by 72%, from €1.38bn to €390m, between 2008 and 2012. So, social housing had to stop while the bondholders were being paid back. 100,000 families on housing lists, yet budget cut by 72% There is also an ongoing ideologi"My But that cal opposition Rent is soaring children are refusing strategy is to social housutterly failto stay in the accommodaMeanwhile, of course, nothing has ing by the ing. Daft.ie been done to intervene in the political tion we've been given. There are reported sacred market by introducing rent establishcockroaches in the shower, toilets only 4,600 controls. Cork rents soared by ment. The properand room and they're frightened to 10.4% in the year to average €889; presence ties availGalway 10.1% to €818; Limerick by of Labour use the toilets. It's heartbreaking able to 8.9%, to €718, while Waterford in governrent in the for me that I've had to leave them posted an increase of 8.2% to €629. ment has entire state Dublin rental costs have now with my mother. Our family is done nothing in August, reached €1,368, up 8.5% in the to abate this. being split up." – Jamie, down from year, according to Daft.ie. More than 75% 6,800 in 2014. Dublin 15 These figures don't tell the story of the governThe banks are of the human misery of the housment's Housing moving to repossess ing crisis. In our work as elected 2020 Strategy relies on and sell properties (up representatives, the Socialist private sector landlords or about 500%) adding significantly to Party and Anti Austerity Alliance developers to provide housing on a the homeless crisis. have dealt with people – mainly rent or lease basis.

Homelessness rises as rents shoot up By Colm McCarthy

he Latest statistics released by daft.ie showing a 10.4% increase in the cost of rental accommodation in the last year is the latest in a series demonstrating the extent of the homeless crisis. the report shows that in dublin there has been a 36% increase in rent since the summer of 2011. This has led to an increase in homelessness. Over 60 families are made homeless each month with many thousands more at risk. There are currently over 1,100 children in emergency accommodation in the capital.

Government’s astounding arrogance Whilst at its most stark there, this problem is far from being limited to Dublin with Cork for example seeing a four-fold increase in the numbers of people sleeping rough over the last four years, and a 11% increase in the numbers of people availing of emergency accommodation last year. The government’s response has

been on the one hand to blame homeless charities for not doing enough and on the other to throw money at landlords. With the astounding arrogance that typifies so much of his style the Minister for Environment, Alan Kelly, accused homeless campaigners of having

nothing positive to say while Labour backbencher Joanna Tuffy criticised them for “not stepping up to the plate”.

Massaging the waiting lists This can be seen by their move to promote schemes like the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP), which seeks to reduce numbers on the social housing waiting list to be “adequately housed” if they go on the scheme. This in reality, is just a continuation of rent allowance and an accountancy trick to massage down Local Authority housing waiting list. It should come as no surprise that the governments first impulse in “solving” the housing crisis is to give more money to landlords when you consider that a quarter of TDs are themselves landlords and have no problem looking after themselves and their own class. A ban on evictions and an introduction of rent controls are required steps to tackle the crisis that sees thousands of people living in fear of losing their home.

women with children – in appalling stress. Children reverting to bed wetting and even soiling; poor physical and mental health; missing school due to dislocation. One young woman in a 'hotel' videoed cockroaches in the shower and her children refuse to stay there. Sleeping in cars is becoming normalised as councils can't find any emergency accommodation. Dublin City Council has a gap of €18 million in this budget.

Housing crisis: failure of capitalism How absolutely wasteful a policy. One Dublin woman was refused an

Build affordable homes now Such investment is effectively banned by the Troika terms regarding adding to state borrowing debt. But a left government would have to refuse to abide by those terms. The private sector has clearly no interest in providing affordable housing and - because of the scale of the crash - is dysfunctional and has no ability to build the tens of thousands of homes required. The trade union leaders should initiate a national demonstration to demand action on the housing crisis.

HOUSINg aCTION PROgRaMME

Stay in your home. Refuse to leave and continue paying the rent. There should be a ban on evictions and repossessions. Stop the escalation of the homeless crisis.

Rent controls NOW, and end the cuts in rent supplement causing such poverty for tenants. It should be illegal to discriminate against those on rent allowance.

Release Nama hotels for the homeless. End the profiteering by hotels, B&Bs and property owners getting vast sums from councils. Inspections of all homeless accommodation to check conditions. Homeless families should not lose their civil rights.

Nama and all other vacant housing and lands should be turned over to councils immediately for social housing use.

For democratic public ownership of the banks and building sector to be utilised for the public good. Billions must be invested to build council and affordable housing on a major scale.

housing crisis

Profiteering & greed create housing crisis

September 2015

opinion & news

THE SOCIALIST

JOE HIGGINS the

column

“all over Europe, ordinary working people are shocked and horrified at the tide of human suffering being endured by people fleeing from the war zones of the Middle East and North africa as well as the repression and awful poverty inflicting these regions of the world” 2003. This is not to mention the legacy of centuries of conquest and robbery of resources, especially as oil became a crucial resource for capitalist production.

eU hypocrisy ALL OveR europe, ordinary working people are shocked and horrified at the tide of human suffering being endured by people fleeing from the war zones of the Middle east and North Africa as well as the repression and awful poverty inflicting these regions of the world. The present day equivalents of the coffin ships of the Irish Famine have seen thousands of migrants drown in the Mediterranean this year. Survivors tell tales of horror like being beaten into and locked in virtually airless holds by the gangster traffickers who prey on their desperation to escape to what they hope will be a better life in Europe. The discovery of 71 decomposing bodies in a trafficker’s truck in Austria shows that those who try to make it by

land can also face a fate too horrible to dwell on.

Indictment of global capitalism The refugee crisis – and it is now a terrible crisis for millions of displaced people – is a damning indictment of the failure of global capitalism to meet the needs of human development. Even more, it is a testament to the unqualified disaster wrought by the catastrophic intervention of the imperial powers in the greater Middle Eastern Region. Islamic State, wedded to medieval obscurantism and deploying the most barbaric methods in its campaign, is the end result of Russian and Western policies reaching back to Afghanistan in the 1980s and through to the invasion of Iraq in

Article 2 of the 1992 treaty on European Union declares: "The Union is founded on the values of respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities. These values are common to the Member States in a society in which pluralism, non-discrimination, tolerance, justice, solidarity and equality between women and men prevail." While the claim to stand for solidarity between member States has been shot to bits by the financial strangulation of the Greek people, the lavish claims to be the foremost champions of human rights is rendered hollow in the extreme by the treatment of those currently fleeing war and poverty.

The Israeli state is rightly reviled for its apartheid-like separation wall in the West Bank to imprison the Palestinian people, however the European Union now has its own equivalent with the right-wing Hungarian government erecting 175 km of razor wire between Hungary and Serbia to keep desperate migrants out. That is not to mention the detention centres around the EU nor the horrific situation in Calais where thousands of refugees are in the most squalid and inhuman conditions as they try to seek asylum in Britain.

Defend the right to asylum Socialists, and indeed anyone who stands for human rights and solidarity, demand immediate changes to the policy of EU states whereby those fleeing persecution, conflict and economic disaster are provided with a safe pathway to securing the right to remain and work. More broadly, the causes of millions of displaced people being forced from their home-

lands by war and conflict and the plight of hundreds of millions living in abject poverty cry out for system change. Capitalism as represented by the huge power of multinational corporations’ ownership and control of resources right around the world and driven by greed for super profits will never meet the needs of humanity. Even within the European Union which contains many of the most advanced economies in the world, a shameful 25 million people are unemployed including a preponderance of young people. On both a European and world scale freeing society from the grip of a system catering for a tiny minority and planning and utilising the resources for the vast majority is key. A socialist alternative where the wealth is democratically publicly owned and used for the benefit of that majority would be capable of addressing the root causes of deprivation and war and would build a system that would meet the needs of humanity including democratic and human rights for all.

Anti Austerity Alliance – Organising to challenge the 1% the first bill is a resounding vindication of that position. The street meetings organised by the “We Won’t Pay campaign”, initiated by the AAA, attracted thousands in advance of the first bills dropping and gave communities the confidence to say no to Irish Water and the government. As well as building vibrant and active branches across the country, the AAA have used the positions of its TDs in the Dáil to provide a voice for working class people; hammering the government on the implementation of water charges, the spiralling homelessness crisis and the savage cuts to One Parent Family Payment.

By Emma Quinn

he decision of the dPP to press charges against 23 Jobstown protesters is a serious attack on both the aaa and the water charges movement in general. this coincides with the refusal by garda to grant a permit to the aaa to collect money door to door in tallaght – a blatant attempt to prevent the funding needed to organise a fightback of the working class.

AAA national conference The state is prepared to throw the book at those challenging their vicious austerity while the architects of the crisis walk away scotfree. The Anti Austerity Alliance is under attack because the establishment see us as a real and serious threat to their agenda. It is in this context that the national conference of the AAA will take place on Sunday, 27 September. The need to discuss and plan about how we can continue to grow is very important. We also need to discuss how we can use the election to build an alternative to all the establishment parties that accept the logic of austerity and the capitalist market. This is the system that is breeding massive inequality in our society.

Fighting for women’s rights AAA – building a political voice for the working class

Opposing LGBTQ discrimination

Organising non-payment The AAA has played a central role in the battle against water charges, advocating mass non-payment as the key weapon to defeat the charges. The 57% non-payment of

Ruth Coppinger TD has pushed issues such as intimate partner violence, cuts to much needed women’s refuges and tabled a bill to repeal the archaic 8th amendment calling for the right to safe and legal abortion. The influx of working class women into the AAA is an echo of the politicisation taking place amongst women nationally. With AAA activists taking part in the Abortion Pill Train last October, the desire to fight for equality and against oppression is interwoven with its political programme.

AAA has been as the forefront of the boycott campaign

The tremendous victory of the Marriage Equality Referendum in May, which saw the highest Yes votes in working class communities was not only a strong display of solidarity with the LGBTQ community but was evidence that ordinary people want social as well as

economic change. The AAA not only highlighted the damage caused by homophobia but directly challenged the church and its oppressive role historically and today via its control of schools and hospitals throughout the referendum campaign. Following the referendum, AAA TDs moved a bill in the Dáil; the Employment Equality Act 2015 which called for the removal of the right of religious organisations to discriminate against employees sexuality.

Need to break with capitalism The Socialist Party helped initiate the AAA towards the end of 2014 and we want to build a new movement for working class people that challenges austerity and capitalism. There are important lessons that we can draw on from the recent events in Greece. The unwillingness of the Syriza government to break the rules of the EU, the markets and capitalism meant they betrayed the aspirations of the Greek working class and signed up to a rotten deal that will see further austerity and privatisation being imposed. A new movement for the working class must fight for a left government that is willing to end the rule of the 1% i.e. the super-rich, big business and banks. Their wealth and resources must be brought into democratic public ownership and the economy must be democratically planned in order to cater for the needs of the 99%. The Socialist Party will be arguing for such a programme within the AAA. The need for a socialist alternative to this rotten system has never been greater.

September 2015

5 THE SOCIALIST

Establishment criminalises protest

By Paul Murphy TD

he dramatic staged dawn raids of February have had their sequel revealed. 23 of those arrested for protesting against Joan burton in Jobstown in november of last year are to be charged with serious criminal offences including false imprisonment, criminal damage and violent disorder. We know this, because Paul Reynolds, RTE crime correspondent, notoriously close to the Gardai told us. Such a leak is not just unprecedented, it also likely amounts to a criminal offence of interference with the administration of justice.

Attacking a working class movement However, justice couldn’t be further from the minds of those pursuing the Jobstown 23. Just like in February, when the dawn raids struck fear into hundreds of people that they could be next to be arrested, this time the leak has all those who were previously arrested now scared of a further dawn raid and what follows. It is a strategy to criminalise protest and to send a message from the establishment – ‘enough is enough’. The context is a mass movement against water charges which has brought hundreds of thousands onto the streets and organised successfully for mass non-payment. The decision to charge seems likely to come from a section of the

state that is deeply concerned about the existence of such mass civil disobedience. It is deeply worried by the rising confidence and politicisation of working class communities precisely like Jobstown, by the collapse of the establishment parties and the rise of the radical Left, in particular the Anti-Austerity Alliance.

Setting the record straight Setting aside the breathless reporting of large sections of Joan Burton being “trapped in her car”, what actually happened on 15 November 2014? A protest happened. A largely spontaneous protest of a working class community that has taken the brunt of austerity, the worst parts of which are personally associated with Joan Burton – rent allowance cuts, cuts to child benefit and cuts to lone parents allowance more recently. A community that had previously voted heavily for the Labour Party heard that Joan Burton was in the area and hundreds and hundreds gathered to express their anger, their sense of betrayal, and yes, for all the gnashing of teeth of sections of the media about the word, the political hatred of many towards a figure who symbolised both sell-out and austerity. The car that Joan Burton was in was met with a sit-down protest as she exited from a graduation ceremony. That took place at the exact point that a foodbank operates, which growing numbers are forced

Jobstown – a community being criminalised for opposing austerity

to go to. It was a few minutes drive from a couple who were living in their car.

This is political policing The eggs thrown by young people separate from the protest and the solitary brick (which must be the most well publicised brick in the history of the world) that was thrown afterwards were deliberately conflated with the protest in order to try to paint the protest as something that it wasn’t. It was a sit-down protest and a slow-march

in front of the Tanaiste’s car. Nothing that hasn’t happened multiple times previously and for which nobody has ever faced a dawn raid or a potentially significant prison time! At the time of the February arrests, any suggestion that this may be ‘political policing’ was met by eye-rolling of much of the media, which considered it a ridiculous and paranoid suggestion. Since then, there has been repeated heavy-handed policing of water meter protests, including armed Gardai at a recent protest, and a large number of arrests.

There has been the unprecedented leaking of the charges. There has been the sinister revelations about ‘Operation Mizen’, a secret spying operation on water charges protesters, directed by the Garda Commissioner’s husband. Now, there is the refusal of a collection permit to the AAA on the grounds that the money would be used to “encourage the commission of an unlawful act”. That is a decision made by the most senior Garda in the area, who undoubtedly had a key input into the Jobstown arrests. If this isn’t political policing, I’d hate to see what is.

Boycotting water charges – let’s build on the 57% By Adam Dudley THIS FINe Gael / Labour government have thrown everything they have into their flagship scheme to impose water charges against the wishes of the vast majority of working class people. Mass non-payment has already caused a crisis and has the potential to bring the whole house of cards tumbling down.

Government threats fail

ment and obliterated any idea that working class people are willing to accept austerity. The enormous groundswell of anger after 7 years of brutal austerity and the devastation of working class communities has exploded outwards and won't easily be pushed back.

and means that their central

to attempts to impose water

A not so “good start” Despite comments from Alan Kelly that a 43% payment level represents "a good start", the reality is that Irish Water is becoming an albatross around the neck of the government. The failure to pass the Eurostat test is a humiliating defeat for them

Threats and intimidation, either directly or via tactical 'leaks' to the mainstream media have become the norm. Dedicated call centres have cold-called non payers, threatening court "We action and fines. They falsely nee d to incr ease the claimed they could simply rob Mass boycott must be called for by all anti-water charges campaigns figure of 57% nonpayment to it from our income. They even used landlords to win this. People know & underst and bully tenants to register plan to keep Irish Water "off charges. We can cripple Irish that mass non payment is our onl and pay. y balance-sheet" is in ruins. Water financially and cause a weapon against this quango. To 57% non-payment of Yet, still they march on, terminal crisis for this governsee the the first bill in July repredetermined to force this ment. Jobstown banner proudly lead ing the sents a defiant act of hated tax down our throats. ma rch , sen t a clear message that we are mass civil disobedience in If non-payment of the Non-payment is key the face of those tactics. all in this together - an injury to second bill is bigger than one The boycott, along with The Socialist Party, alongside the 57% who have already is an injury to all." – Áine the massive mobilisations of the Anti Austerity Alliance has joined the boycott, then O'Connor, adare, Co. people in protest, has again been at the forefront of regardless of the spin from minand again rattled this governadvocating and building the isters, it will be a further blow Limerick

"I re think mo people will boycott the second y down bill. If not, it's mone is blatant the drain. Jobstown re tactics, political policing, sca work.” – n't but it definitely wo , John Murphy Ballyvolane, Cork boycott campaign from the outset. Hundreds of campaign groups around the country have sprung up and shown the potential for mass movements of working class people. Those activists, convincing people in their communities to join the boycott can have an enormous effect. Right2Water and all parties who oppose the water charge, including Sinn Fein, must now clearly come out and call for a boycott of the second and future water bills. Growing nonpayment is critical to defeating this austerity charge. A victory on water charges can clear the way for a new movement against all austerity policies and the injustice and inequality that capitalism demands.

water charges

Defend the Jobstown 23

September 2015

special feature

THE SO

US and Britain:

BaCkLaSH agaINST aUSTERI Corbyn challenge: A welcome upheaval in British politics

HE ELECTION for the next leader of the Labour Party has become the focus of a major movement against austerity and for a Left alternative in Britain, writes CONOR PaYNE.

eremy corbyn, standing on a clear left, anti-austerity and anti-war platform has galvanised huge support and enthusiasm, drawing huge crowds and is now poised to win the election on september 12. after 5 years of tory austerity it illustrates the growing shift to the left in british society. The latest poll on August 10 showed him with 53% of the first preference, an incredible 32 percentage points ahead of Andy Burnham in second place on 21%. The support for Corbyn represents a movement and has transformed the political debate in Britain.

Radicalising effect of Tory victory The victory of the Conservative Party in the General Election in May of this year was a blow to the workers movement and the Left. The Tories have declared open season on public services, welfare and trade union rights. The Tories are planning £12 billion in welfare cuts, and have already introduced swingeing cuts to tax credits for low paid workers. They are planning laws to drastically attack the rights of workers to take strike action. The lack of confidence in Labour resulted in it losing support to the

SNP, UKIP and the Green Party and in huge numbers not turning out to vote at all. Since the election there has been a major backlash against the Tory austerity agenda, with 250,000 joining the People’s Assembly March Against Austerity in London. Corbyn’s election campaign has given voice to this growing radicalisation.

Surge in Labour membership Almost all of his public meetings are packed out, with often hundreds being addressed outside the venue. The Labour Party has essentially tripled in size since the election, with 100,000 joining as full members, 190,000 affiliating through unions and 120,000 paying £3 to become ‘registered supporters’. Huge numbers of these will have joined specifically to vote for Corbyn. Reflecting this pressure from below, UNITE and UNISON have also given their backing to him. Refuting the standard right-wing argument that Labour under Corbyn would be “unelectable”, a number of polls show him as the most popular candidate with the general public. The surge around Corbyn has brought left and socialist ideas back into the public discussion and consciousness. It has raised public ownership of utilities and railways, the defence of the welfare state and pub-

A Corbyn victory would mean a battle to transform the Labour Party

lic services and opposition to austerity. Corbyn has come under vicious attack from the media essentially relating to his opposition to imperialist wars and Britain’s foreign policy. He has also stood against the scapegoating of immigrants for the problems created by austerity. Hysterical attacks from figures such as Tony Blair, Neil Kinnock and Gordon Brown have only added to his support.

The transformation of Labour However, a Corbyn victory would only be the beginning of the battle with the Labour Party establishment and apparatus. The reality is that since the 1990s with the collapse of Stalinist states in Russia and Eastern Europe and the ascendancy of neo-liberal ideology, the right-wing have been in more or less in full con-

trol of the Labour Party with the left of the party marginalised or driven out and the activist base of the party fundamentally undermined. Labour was transformed into a party of big business and the market, despite still having the allegiance of huge numbers of working class people. Jeremy Corbyn will face, from the beginning, hostility from the vast majority of Labour MPs and of the party apparatus. The surge around Corbyn was only possible because of

US: Bernie Sanders’ campaign taps into growing radicalisation By Lea Vallence

he camPaign of bernie sanders in the Us presidential election is getting a lot of attention internationally because of the momentum it is gaining. sanders, the only selfproclaimed socialist in the Us senate, is putting forward a series of radical arguments which is attracting a lot of support amongst young people and large layers of working-class people.

Opposing the billionaires His call for a “political Revolution against the billionaire class” has resonated far and wide, so much so that on the 1st day of his campaign, 100,000 people signed up to get involved and 35,000 people donated a total of $1.5 million (which is more than the other candidates raised) of which 99% were small amounts of

$250 or less. His programme includes taxing the rich and big business, investment in a trillion dollar programme to create jobs, a minimum wage of $15 an hour, universal healthcare system, stopping TPP (Trans-Pacific Partnership) and other corporate deals, an increase in the rights of unions and an end to the gender pay gap. These arguments have been met with huge support which is reflected in the huge rallies and the involvement of thousands of activists. This is happening against the backdrop of the devastating crisis of capitalism which has left the working class to pick up the pieces. With record levels of inequality and poverty, the top 1% is making huge profits and public services are being dismantled in order to lessen the tax burden of big business. The US has a highly repressive criminal justice system, the U.S. accounts for 25% of the world’s prison population and the Black

Radical policies attract support from workers and young people

September 2015

OCIALIST

the new ‘open primary’ system being used to elect the leader, which allows members of the public to affiliate and vote, and eliminates the role of MPs in choosing the leader. Ironically, this was itself introduced under Ed Miliband as a means of sidelining the role of the unions in the contest, and even further diluting the influence of left politics in the party. Instead it was seized on by a big layer of working class and young people as a vehicle for a political alternative.

basis for the undermining of Corbyn’s mandate for left and anti-austerity policies. The Socialist Party in England and Wales has argued that the movement which has developed around Corbyn will need to organise to defeat the PLP and the right-wing. This should include deselection of right-wing MPs, and the transfer of power from the PLP to genuine forums of democratic decision making.

The reality is that the process of such a struggle would lead inexorably to a split in the party with either the right or the left being forced to leave. This puts on the agenda a new, mass party of working class people in Britain. Such a new force would be a hugely positive and significant development and be the basis for the redevelopment of socialist politics on a mass scale.

Blairites prepare for Corbyn victory The plans within the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) and the apparatus to undermine Corbyn as leader are already underway. The Labour Party HQ staff is busily engaged in trawling through the social media profiles of new members in order to purge those deemed not to support the ‘aims and values of the Labour Party’ i.e. those who have left or socialist ideas! Meanwhile, according to an article in the Telegraph of Aug 16, Labour MPs are debating whether to engage in open rebellion against Corbyn from the outset or to undermine him over a period of time. Simon Danczuk MP declared: "Am I going to put up with some crazy left-wing policies that he is putting forward and traipse through the voting lobby to support him? It’s not going to happen, is it? So I would give him about 12 months if he does become leader" In response to this sabotage, Corbyn’s campaign has declared ‘unity is our watchword’.

Thousands have turned out in support of Corbyn’s anti-austerity message

Oppose the Labour right Unfortunately, the Labour establishment will not take the same attitude. Unity with the right cannot be the

Some of the packed out Corbyn rallies held across Britain

Lives Matter movement has emerged against the brutal police killings of Black people.

city council and the successful struggle for a minimum wage of $15 per hour that Kshama led.

47% would vote socialist

Oppose US capitalism home & abroad

There is a huge amount of frustration at the two-party system of the Democrats and Republicans. Both parties receive vast amounts of money from big business and keep passing pro-business, anti-worker legislation. A recent poll shows that 47% of Americans would vote for a socialist, including 70% of people under 30 years of age. This is very significant indeed - it reflects a general radicalisation and the real need for an alternative. The American working-class would also have been radicalised and inspired by different movements in recent years such as the Occupy movement and #BlackLivesMatter. An indication of this growing radicalisation was shown by the election of socialist Kshama Sawant to Seattle

There are however noteworthy deficiencies in the political approach of Sanders and his campaign. While he opposed the Patriot Act of 2001 and the invasion of Iraq, he didn’t oppose the war in Afghanistan in 2001. He didn’t oppose the Israeli massacre in Gaza and has not opposed the actions of the Israeli state generally. Sanders needs to clearly show his support to the Black Lives Matter movement which has gained momentum amongst the young AfricanAmerican community and helped raise the issues of racism, police brutality and mass incarceration.

Break with the Democrats Socialist Alternative, the sister

organisation of the Socialist Party, has argued that there is a fundamental contradiction in the Sanders campaign by his running in the Democratic primaries. He cannot oppose the rule of the billionaires by using of one their tools, namely the pro-big business Democratic Party itself. If his campaign is really to represent the interests of working class people Sanders must break with the Democratic Party and stand as an independent left basis. In the event of Sanders losing in the primaries and he then goes on to support the Democrat candidate Hillary Clinton, the huge amount of activists and supporters mobilised during his campaign by a thirst for change could be demoralised. However, running as an independent to oppose the establishment would help build a new mass movement of the working-class as a new broad left alternative.

By Kevin McLoughlin ON 12 July in Paraguay the Pope told young people to “make a mess” in their struggle against capitalism. On the same day as the leader of one of the most conservative institutions on earth made this call, Syriza jettisoned its anti-austerity stance in a historic betrayal of the Greek working class. Alexis Tsipras dragged himself and Syriza completely over to the side of capitalism in a matter of months, something it took Kinnock and Blair years to achieve with Labour in Britain. This new disastrous bailout or robbery of Greece was not inevitable. The responsibility lies with the leadership of Syriza who, when their appeals were rejected by the Troika, had no alternative strategy or policy. They thought that significant debt relief and an end to austerity could be achieved in negotiations with the EU – that is, they had illusions that capitalism would reform itself into something socially progressive. Austerity and capitalism are about maximising the transfer of wealth from the masses to the super-rich, and the economically stagnant EU was always going to represent big business interests in this battle with the Greek people.

Stark choices Instead, if Syriza had ensured that ownership of the main sectors of the economy, including the banks and the financial system, were put under democratic public ownership, not only could the EU sabotage of the economy have been resisted, but a proper plan to use resources to maximum benefit of the people could have been initiated outside of the Eurozone. The referendum result on 5 July shows that such a stand against the EU and capitalist austerity could have received huge active support in Greece and transformed the political situation in Europe. Syriza would have huge authority to appeal directly to the working class of other countries for a united stand against the EU and the respective EU governments, all of whom are imposing capitalist austerity. By refusing to challenge the system, Syriza’s original good intentions are now meaningless as they impose vicious austerity including the biggest programme of privatisations in Greek history and cut the minimum pension from €490 to €360 a month. Now every single new law must be agreed first by the Troika. The crisis and the national debt will get worse and Grexit will beckon in any case. In most EU countries, similar stark choices will be posed. Stick with the capitalist EU straightjacket and the crisis will worsen and society will fragment. There is no road to reform either within the EU or capitalism. The alternative is to end the

rule of the billionaires and take the key wealth and resources into democratic public ownership and plan for people’s needs.

New movements The problem in Greece wasn’t that people wouldn’t fight; the failure was with the leadership and their policy. The class divide may not be exactly 1% versus 99%, but clearly the vast majority are suffering under this system and the massive response that Jeremy Corbyn and Bernie Sanders are getting in Britain and the US shows the potential to unite a big majority. Corbyn and Sanders pointing to the complete inequality of capitalism and articulating what people need has created huge enthusiasm, partly because they are political figures who aren’t seen as part of the system. The tumult that these campaigns have caused must be translated into the start of new mass movements to challenge the system. The demands of Corbyn and Sanders on wages, jobs and education articulate the aspirations of the masses. But they are the opposite of what capitalism is prepared to give. Like in Greece, this raises the question, when your demands are refused, what next? Sanders’ call for a political revolution gets a huge response, but in itself that isn’t enough. If the capitalists are left in control of the economy they will continue to dictate the political and social terms. We also need an economic and social revolution.

Billionaire class must be challenged Corbyn’s campaign has provoked an important discussion about public ownership of wealth. However, taking transport and energy only into democratic public ownership leaves decisive wealth producing sectors in the hands of the billionaires – we would not have the economic means to transform people’s lives or society. Every significant but reasonable reform that people need goes beyond what capitalism is prepared to give. If capitalism can’t afford the demand for a decent life for all, it’s time for real socialist change where the working class and the poor own, control and democratically plan the economy for the good of all.

special feature

ITY & INEqUaLITY

Why this rotten system can’t be reformed

September 2015

international

THE SOCIALIST

Markets rocked by the “Great Fall of China” By Cillian Gillespie

ast month, an eye watering $6 trillion in paper and electronic wealth was wiped off the value of shares on the chinese stock market - a figure greater than china’s gross domestic Product. monday, august 24th was dubbed “black monday” as share prices fell by 8.5%, the biggest one day fall in share prices since 2007. The tremors of this dramatic collapse were felt globally as share prices also took a pounding in all of the major stock markets in the key capitalist economies of Europe, Japan and the US. Capitalist investors are clearly worried about the fate of the world’s second largest economy that has grown at breakneck speed in the last thirty years but is now undergoing a serious slowdown.

Growing economic malaise The stock market collapse in China is only a symptom of its growing economic malaise. In the year running up to June the value of Chinese shares grew by 150% as many ordinary Chinese people were encouraged by the ruling “Communist” Party (CCP) regime to borrow and invest in shares. In reality this was a bubble created that was out of sync with the

real health of the Chinese economy. Economic growth has fallen from the double digit figures of a number of years ago to an official figure of 7% this year, with many analysts believing this to be as low as 5%. Factory output, for example, has contracted five months in a row and is now at a six year low. In 2008 the CCP took extraordinary measures to stave off the effects of the worst economic downturn in global capitalism since the 1930s. Having become the “workshop of the world” the Chinese export boom came to a shuttering halt as its primary market for goods, namely the US, went into a deep recession.

Massive increase in debt Vast sums of money was poured into the economy to stimulate economic growth through the building of various infrastructural programmes. Maintaining this growth is seen as a key lifeline by the ruling Chinese regime to maintain their power in the context of an underlying anger over state repression, corruption, growing inequality, lack of workers’ rights and environmental destruction. They rightly fear the potential for explosions to develop from within Chinese society. The regime no longer has the reserves as 2008 to pump money into the economy. China’s debt has ballooned to 280% of its GDP and

Black Monday: $6 trillion wiped off Chinese stock exchange

entire cities now lie empty as a result of the unplanned building boom in the Chinese economy.

Global effect of Chinese downturn Some commentators have tried to dismiss the growing crisis as being a “Made in China” phenomenon will little impact on the global economy. But this ignores the key role it plays in generating world economic growth, in fact one third of global output is generated by China. It is also no coincidence that world trade has slowed to its lowest level in six years just as the downturn in the Chinese economy has manifested. China’s economic slowdown will

Mass protests erupt in Iraq By Finghin Kelly

he PoLiticaL establishment in iraq has been shaken this summer by an eruption of protest. The weekly Friday protests have united working class and poor people from across the sectarian divide. Shias, Sunnis and secular Iraqis have been united in protests in every major city.

have enormous repercussions on vast swathes of the world economy, particularly the so-called “emerging economies” of Latin America and Africa as well countries such as Australia. They underwent enormous economic growth, as the economies of Europe, the US and Japan contracted or stagnated. These countries export primary commodities such as coal and metals such as copper to China. China imports 50% of the world’s metals and 70% of the world’s copper.

Potential for social explosions The prices of these commodities have now plummeted, as has the price of oil which has fallen from

$115 to $43 a barrel. Not only will this fall have an impact on the economic fortunes of the oil producing economies of the Middle East and countries such as Venezuela, it will also add to further risk of deflationary stagnation. This in turn will add to the debt crisis that we have seen develop in here in Europe. The downturns in China’s economy marks a new phase of the international crisis of capitalism which can lead to a further radicalisation within society and the development of revolutionary upheaval. This can see the movement of the new and powerful sections of the international working class in China itself, Asia and further afield which is critical for our struggle for a socialist world.

Socialist in Seattle wins 52% of the vote

Corruption, poverty & sectarianism The protests are in response to the endemic corruption in the Iraqi state, poor infrastructure which has seen continual electricity blackouts and dirty water. Other issues like opposition to massive unemployment levels, poor healthcare and dead-end sectarian politics have also strongly featured in the movement. Iraq’s water and electricity infrastructure was hugely damaged following the US led invasion in 2003. Since then it has been neglected by successive governments and the occupying powers. Meanwhile the oil industry has had its infrastructure repaired and is now extracting 3 million barrels a year. Despite the oil wealth, none is finding its way to ordinary Iraqis. Transparency International has consistently ranked Iraq in the top ten corrupt states; they are currently ranked fifth.

United protests of Shias and Sunnis rock government

Young people to the fore To the forefront of the protests have been young people, who are at the cutting edge of the unemployment crisis and are continually being tapped for bribes by police and army at checkpoints. Many young people have been to the fore in setting up committees and groups to organise protests and also to provide support to their communities. The Prime Minister, Abadi, has been forced by the movement to announce political reforms. These reforms are seen as minimal by the movement and protests have continued.

Four years ago similar protest in the mainly Sunni parts of the country faced brutal state repression. This helped pave the way for the barbaric ISIS regime by allowing them to cynically tap the discontent felt by the Sunni population who have faced systematic discrimination and mass unemployment in post war Iraq. To counter the barbarity of ISIS and the sectarian, corrupt politics of Iraq, that can’t deliver on people’s basic needs, a united movement involving all working class and poor people in Iraq is needed. This protest movement shows the potential for such a united movement that fights for a truly democratic and socialist future for all, regardless of sectarian division.

By Connor Cruikshanks SOCIALIST ALTeRNATIve (sister party of the Socialist Party in the US) candidate Kshama Sawant received 52% of the primary vote in the race for one of the nine seats on the Seattle City Council. The second most popular candidate, Pamela Banks, received 35% of the vote. Pamela Banks, and other opponents of Sawant in the election, have received continuous support and funding from big businesses in the area, to ensure that their control remains unchallenged. Kshama's success comes from her involvement in various campaigns, such as successfully winning $15 an hour for Seattle and campaigning against high rents in the city.

September 2015

9 THE SOCIALIST

By Katia Hancke AMNeSTY INTeRNATIONAL has recently declared that “prostitution is a human right”. Amnesty are just the latest in a growing number of institutions, prominent individuals and even states who are influenced by the pressure to normalise the sex industry, an agenda ultimately pushed by and serving the interests of pimps and a growing global multi-billion dollar business. The postmodern dogma that strips prostitution from all its concrete reality tries to reduce this complicated issue to an abstract question – who are we to tell anyone else what to do with their body? Or, even worse, how dare we have an opinion about this at all? Are all of us who oppose prostitution as a form of women’s exploitation burdened by Victorian mores, out of line with 21st century liberal ideals?

Sex Industry objectifies women We base ourselves on the unfortunate reality that sex and gender based exploitation is worsening in a society in which the objectification of women is now big business and violence against women is justified and even promoted through the

multibillion dollar industry of porn, video games, media and the like. Prostitution has to be seen in this context – what else is the selling of someone else’s body and the buying of someone’s body – but the ultimate objectification of a human being, man or woman? But let’s be clear, the overwhelming majority of those in prostitution are girls and women, including trans women. Any furthering of the objectification of women affects every one of us, as it reinforces gender inequality. Just like we did not have to be part of the LGBTQ community to vote Yes in the marriage equality referendum, or trans to support legislation that allows trans people to self-identify regarding their gender. Working class communities across this country came out in their droves to vote Yes, as an act of solidarity with the LGBTQ community and also because we know how capitalism as a system thrives on division and discrimination.

In Germany more than one million men buy sex every day

tion sex work means that sex workers who are engaging in commercial sex have consented to do so.” But how consensual is prostitution really? A recent meta-analysis of the experience of sex workers across nine countries based on 845 respondents reveals this picture: 60% of prostitutes work in conditions of slavery, another 38% feel they have no way out because of a complicated web of poverty, racism, lack of opportunity and sexism. Only 2% of respondents felt they could leave the trade if they so wish. Not very consensual, then.

How consensual is prostitution?

A human right to buy sex?

Equally so, we should expose the harsh reality behind the “happy, liberated sex worker” discourse. According to Amnesty’s statement “By defini-

Decriminalisation of sex work should be supported. Criminalising the most vulnerable in the chain of the sex industry – the sex workers themselves – only gives the

pimps even more control over those they exploit and is never acceptable. But a human rights organisation proclaiming prostitution to be a human right gives the impression that prostitution today can be free of exploitation. In fact, the upshot of Amnesty’s position is to say that it’s a human right for men to buy sex (as it is nearly always men who are the buyers, which is symptomatic of women’s oppression in society generally), and that it’s ok to turn women’s oppression into a profitable business. Research in the Netherlands and Germany reveals that those profiting from other people selling their bodies – the pimps – benefit most from legalising the sex industry. Sex trafficking into those countries has actually gone up. The majority of prostitutes still live in conditions of illegality and are as vulnerable as ever to sexual and physical

Review of a socialist classic By Leon Trotsky

then to stand up again to Stalin in defence of the true meaning and goals of the October Revolution.

eon trotsky, the revolutionary socialist who co-led the russian revolution of 1917 alongside Lenin, and in whose tradition the socialist Party stands, spent his entire adult life fighting for a better world.

Importance of socialist ideas

A revolutionary fighter My Life begins with Trotsky’s youth and continues with the major historical events he was part of: the Russian Revolution of 1905, the Russian Revolution of 1917, the period after 1917 when he led the Red Army in the Civil War and participated in the building of postrevolution Russia, through to his fight against Stalin and his expulsion from the Communist Party and the USSR. Trotsky wrote his attempt at an autobiography while he was living in Turkey, exiled there by Stalin. Not only does the book tell us a lot about Trotsky as a person, it also gives a great overview of important historical events. It is

Leon Trotsky was murdered 75 years ago

written in a way that is understandable and explanatory for people who have not read much about that period. But this book is more than just an overview of the important role

Trotsky played in history. It is also a shining example of a person living a life dedicated to the revolution. A person who had the tenacity not only to stand up to the Tsar and the old world and won, but

PROSTITUTION the facts l 71% of prostitutes have encountered physical violence in prostitution l 62% have been raped l 89% wanted to leave but don’t see a way out or another option to survive l 65% to 95% of those in prostitution were sexually assaulted as children l Over 50% entered prostitution under the age of 18 Sources: meta-analysis of prostitution data internationally by Melissa McFarley; http://bit.ly/1MjBpPh

Committee for a Workers’ international

My Life: An Attempt at an Autobiography By Katie Quarles Socialist Alternative (USA)

violence and other forms of abuse. In Amsterdam’s red light district alone, 7,200 sex workers work in conditions of illegality, under the thumb of a pimp. Despite the fact that over 220,000 “transactions” take place there every year, less than 100 police reports are filed reporting any of this. So, is sex a human right? Yes it is – sex with yourself. Maybe if we were a bit more open about masturbation and sex education in general we would leave the next generation less confused and frustrated. But if you want to have sex with someone else, let it be based on consent in the true sense of the word – between two equals showing mutual respect, rather than allowing this system with its ferocious drive for profit to reduce even this universal human desire into a “for profit” transaction.

Trotsky’s life not only shows the importance of being a tireless fighter for revolutionary change, it also shows the importance of analysing the current situation and developing perspectives in order to gain theoretical and political clarity as to what revolutionaries should do in a given situation. Although as revolutionaries we fight against the trend of viewing history as a series of events that were caused by “great men”, which tends to ignore the role of broader social forces in shaping history, it is clear that the individual characteristics of some people do make a difference in history. It seems likely that the Russian Revolution would have happened without Trotsky, but the fight against Stalinism and the traditions of Marx, Engels, and Lenin would not have had their banner held high without Trotsky playing the role he did.

the Socialist Party is the irish section of the committee for a Workers’ international, an international socialist organisation that organises in over 40 countries on all five continents. We fight for a socialist world free from war, poverty and oppression. check out the website of the cWi, socialistworld.net, for more analysis on these stories and many others. here are some of the articles from around the globe:

Kurdistan: Democratic autonomy or socialism? www.socialistworld.net/doc/7316

analysis & review

Is prostitution a human right?

September 2015

north

THE SOCIALIST

Stormont Executive plunged into crisis By Michael Cleary

et again the northern ireland executive is facing a real risk of a collapse. a crisis erupted in the aftermath of the killing of kevin mcguigan in the short strand area of belfast on august 13th. His murder was immediately assumed to have been carried out by the Provisional IRA (PIRA) in revenge for the killing of Jock Davidson on May 5th. The two murders might have quickly slipped out of the headlines except for the Chief Constable of the PSNI’s announcement on August 22nd that “the Provisional IRA still exists.”

existence of PIRA Prior to his statement there was a widespread belief that the PIRA did indeed still exist in some form. Every so often stories would appear in the press regarding mainstream republican involvement in fuel smuggling and other “fundraising” activities. Such allegations were met with a collective shrug of the shoulders. The PSNI statement changed everything. What was hidden came into the open. Suddenly the state were admitting that not only do the PIRA still exist but that it is armed

issue of paramilitary control over working class areas. Only one force is capable of pushing the paramilitaries to one side and ultimately breaking their grip. That force is a united and organised working class. Working class people are united in their unions and on many occasions have followed a union lead to strike and demonstrate against sectarianism and the paramilitaries. The trade unions could and should organise against paramilitary racketeering and intimidation.

and is prepared to use its arms. The UUP moved quickly to withdraw from the Executive. Peter Robinson has loudly condemned the UUP’s move but it undoubtedly puts him under pressure.

Crisis ridden executive The Executive was already in crisis before the recent events. Over the summer there were clear indications of behind the scenes talks however and an agreement to break the impasse on so-called “welfare reform” was likely in September. All the indications are that the DUP would prefer not to bring down the Executive but they are wary less the UUP steal their mantle as the most steadfast representatives of the Protestant community. They appear to be seeking the establishment of a new body to make assessments about alleged PIRA activity, similar to the “Independent Monitoring Commission” which oversaw the status of all the paramilitary ceasefires between 2004 and 2011. If they don’t achieve this aim, and the Executive falls, what happens next is uncertain. The Secretary of State, Teresa Villiers, has the power to call an immediate election but will hesitate to do so. She no longer has the power to

Working class party needed

PSNI Chief’s remarks about the PIRA have sparked a crisis in Stormont

suspend the Assembly, and return to direct rule, as she once did, but emergency legislation could be passed at Westminster to allow this to happen. This is perhaps the most likely scenario - a long period of direct rule whilst prolonged negotiations between the DUP and Sinn Fein continue.

Peace process fails to deliver Whatever happens next the latest

crisis only serves to underline the plain fact that the peace process has not delivered on any of its promises. None of the problems facing working class people in the North have been solved, including the dominance of paramilitary groups in working class areas. All of the paramilitary groupings remain armed and active to one extent or another. Even if yet another “agreement” is cobbled together it will not deal in any fundamental way with the

The working class is also the only force which is capable of challenging the sectarian political parties. The establishment of a new political party, which seeks to unite Catholics and Protestants in a common struggle for a better life, would undermine support for the sectarian parties. If trade unions and campaigning groups came together, a new voice could quickly find firm foundations and grow. Initial caution could quickly be replaced by enthusiasm and a wave of hope. The period we are in now is fraught with difficulty and danger but resolute action by the trade unions still has the capacity to transform the situation.

North: Left challenge for largest union leadership munities. NIPSA, under the leadership of its general council which has had a Broad Left majority for the last year and a half years, has played an important role in arguing for the need for the trade unions to struggle to stop austerity. NIPSA played a key role in pushing NIC-ICTU to call the one day public sector strike in March – and were the only union that argued for the naming of a second day of strike action in May.

By Stephen Boyd THE CONTEST has begun for the election of the next general secretary of Northern Ireland’s biggest trade union; the Northern Ireland Public Service Alliance (NIPSA). Patrick Mulholland, former NIPSA president and Socialist Party member, is standing for general secretary as the candidate for the Broad Left. NIPSA organises 45,000 workers across the civil and public services and this election comes at a very important time for public sector workers. Already the Assembly parties, led by the DUP and Sinn Fein, have agreed to make 20,000 public sector workers redundant. NIPSA members are fearful that the election of Cameron’s Tory party for a second term will mean more job losses are to come – enforced by Westminster and Stormont.

Anti-trade union laws The Tories new anti-trade union laws are a direct attack on the democratic right of public sector workers. The Trade Union Bill, introduced at Westminster in July, imposes a minimum 50% turnout in union strike ballots. For public sector strikes to be legal they would need the back-

A socialist, antisectarian fighter

Committed socialist & fighter for trade union members

ing of at least 40% of those eligible to vote. At this time there are no plans to extend the new anti-trade union legislation to Northern Ireland but there is no guarantee that this won’t occur in the future. The reason the Tories are pursuing this course is the tens of billions of pounds of cuts still to come over the next five years. Public sector workers will be faced with more austerity which will include thousands of job losses, a decimation of public

services, pay freezes or pay “rises” that are below the real increases in the cost of living or to fight back.

Attacking public sector workers If the Tories, the DUP and Sinn Fein get their way the public sector will be stripped to the bone and the remaining low paid workforce will be stretched to beyond breaking point trying to meet the needs of our com-

The NIPSA Broad Left and Patrick Mulholland have been fundamental in opposing the push by some leading trade union officials for greater links between the trade unions and the sectarian parties in the Assembly. The trade unions are the biggest movement (220,000 members) that unites Protestants and Catholics in Northern Ireland – we cannot allow that unity to be destroyed by the establishment union leaders who support partnership with the likes of Sinn Fein and the DUP. Patrick has been active at various levels of the union for decades and has recently completed a three-year term as President. He is widely recog-

nised as a very determined and committed socialist and a fighter for the rights of trade union members and of working people in the wider community. He is an able communicator who has promoted NIPSA and the socialist cause in the press, on radio and on television.

Trade unions and workers unity If NIPSA is to be relevant to it’s members’ needs over the next decade then it needs a left fighting leadership that says there is no acceptable level of austerity. The trade unions in Northern Ireland can potentially play a very important role in not only defending public services, but also in uniting Catholic and Protestant working class people in campaigns against austerity and the sectarianism of the parties in Stormont. Why elect just another representative of the trade union establishment who will roll over and accept the job losses? NIPSA members deserve a general secretary who will put the members’ jobs, pay, conditions and public services before anything else. A general secretary who will be a voice not only for NIPSA members but also for working class people struggling for a better life all across our society.

September 2015

11 THE SOCIALIST

Repeal the 8 & nothing less th

paigning activity and political pressure in the years since Savita's death have made inroads. Such campaigning was especially poignant when highlighting the Y and D cases in 2014. It has meant that both Labour and Sinn Fein have been forced to adopt an official position to allow a repeal eight referendum, albeit with highly restrictive and inadequate legislation on fatal foetal abnormality to follow.

By Laura Fitzgerald

ctober 28 will mark the third anniversary of the death of savita halappanavar – perhaps the most well-known victim of the 8th amendment, ireland’s constitutional abortion ban. a social movement erupted after savita’s death, with a spontaneous demonstration of 20,000 in dublin on the saturday after the details of the case emerged.

Make abortion an election issue

Savita’s deat three years on This social movement was relatively short-lived, in part due to mistakes of pro-choice campaign groups that called demonstrations with the demand for X Case legislation. This was a mistake for three reasons. Firstly, because X Case legislation itself did not deal with the issue at hand – namely that legislation that only provided for abortion if a woman’s life is threatened (X legislation) failed to deal with the reality that when Savita first presented in hospital in Galway that her health was clearly endangered, but not necessarily her life. Secondly, because X legislation was in fact far behind the consciousness that developed in the wake of this tragedy, consciousness that had for years been quietly moving towards a majority of the population supporting the decrimi-

Pressure needs to be mounted on every candidate in the general election to support repealing the 8th

nalising of abortion – the tragedy of Savita sped up this process. And thirdly, because it became clear in the wake of Savita’s death that the Government would be forced to at bare minimum implement X legislation. Calling demonstrations with this limited demand therefore failed to inspire and motivate continued mass activity.

X legislation changed nothing “The slogan of demonstrations following Savita’s death was ‘Never

Again’. But the reported legislation won’t guarantee this, unless it is broadened to allow abortion on the grounds of health. This requires Repeal of the 8th Amendment and must be campaigned for... We believe the pro-choice movement should not tactically focus on X Case legislation first, then repeal at some stage in the distant future. The two could be done simultaneously and are the minimum needed to defend women’s health. They are also widely supported in Irish society, so why ask for less?” (Ruth Coppinger in ROSA's first newslet-

ter, February 2013) As predicted, the X legislation brought in in 2014 changed nothing and in fact reasserted Ireland’s abortion ban and despicably recommended a prison sentence of up to 14 years for having an illegal abortion in Ireland. Labour in particular, who have also voted down five progressive bills on abortion should be excoriated for this.

Political establishment feel the pressure Despite tactical mistakes, the cam-

IN THE run up to the General Election, all political parties should be pressurised on this question. A key consideration of the abortion rights movement must be that we cannot trust the political establishment or Sinn Fein (a "pro-life" party according to Martin McGuiness) to deliver abortion rights from on high. We must be vigilant and vocal in order to ensure that no odious compromise will be hatched by the next Government. Any attempt to amend the eighth, rather than repeal (for example to allow for FFA) or to insert anything into the constitution policing women's bodies for that matter is absolutely not acceptable and must be actively opposed. We must anticipate the potential that this may arise given the conservative nature of all the main political parties and actively raise it in the run up to a General Election.

Meyer Hustveit case: Criminal justice system & “rape culture” a

ccording to a report commissioned by the dublin rape crisis centre, 42% of women have experienced some form of sexual abuse in their lifetime. despite this epidemic level of violence, only 7.8% of women reported these experiences to gardaí. this is even more horrifying when we consider that only 7% of reported rapes end in a conviction.

Blaming the victim The recent case of Magnus Meyer Hustveit who pleaded guilty to raping his former partner as she slept while on heavy medication sums up the approach taken to sexual violence by the criminal justice system. Meyer Hustveit received a suspended sentence with the judge commenting on the ‘exceptional’ nature of the case. This is part of “rape culture”, that trivialises rape and blames the victims. The victim of Meyer Hustveit was subjected to this by his legal team who brought up the completely irrelevant question of an incident of sexual abuse she had suffered as a child during the trial. Furthermore, it has emerged that the man who has pleaded guilty to murdering Karen Buckley in Scotland, was on trial previously for attempted rape and was described as a “daft young lad”

who was involved in an incident that went “horribly wrong” by his lawyer during this trial that collapsed.

Rape is about power Rape, which is used systematically as a weapon of war, is not a result of sexual attraction/impulses. Rather it is the ultimate expression of power, supremacy and domination over a human being. This is seen both in the abuse systematically covered up by the Catholic Church hierarchy implemented by many priests in positions of power, and seen in Britain whereby not only Jimmy Saville, a friend of Thatcher and protected by the BBC institution. Former Tory MPs allegedly including former Prime Minister Heath abused vulnerable and marginalised children and young people for decades with impunity.

Austerity targets the most vulnerable The 25% cut to rape crisis centres’ funding since 2008 is despicable. This amounts to a cut of just €1.4 million – in a state which will hand over another €8 billion to bondholders this year alone! There have also been a despicable €4.5 million in cuts to women’s refuges and domestic violence services since 2008.

Organise against sexual violence Globally in recent years we’ve seen a new wave of struggle to challenge sexual violence – the ‘Slutwalks’ of 2011, the Rage Against Rape in India in 2012 and 2013 and the #YesAllWomen movement that has swept colleges campuses in the US. We need such a movement in Ireland, that also links up with the vital and immediate task of the abortion rights

movement to Repeal the 8th amendment. Rape culture is linked to the ideology of capitalism; that of individual responsibility where atomised families with male leadership and female subservience reinforce gender norms and sexual oppression. This is the reason why most victims of rape and sexual violence know their aggressor – it’s often a family member or partner or former partner.

…and the capitalist system We need an anti-capitalist movement to fully separate church and state in Ireland; to challenge the global corporate domination of the media that pushes dangerous sexist ideas; and to end austerity that means the decimation of public services and impoverishment of the majority to enable the continued rule of the 1%.

WOMEN

No odious compromise –

PaPer of the SocialiSt Party

iSSue 94

SePtember 2015

as a general election approaches...

Demand a o t m u d n refere th! 8 e h t l a repe March for choice

Saturday, 26 September, 1.30pm Garden of remembrance, Dublin city centre JOIN THE SOCIALIST PARTY!

Text ‘JOIN’ to 087 3141986