Anti-SF strategy emerges (again)

So Enda Kenny will only do a leaders debate if all 5 leaders are invited. 

He doesn't need the extra opportunity to promote Fine Gael's raft of 'different' policies that would be afforded him with only Michael Martin and Eamon Gilmore to compete with?  Surely he is missing the opportunity to allow his statesman qualities shine through. 

No.  He wants Gerry Adams to be there.  So does Michael and Eamon.  It would suit them all to be able to turn the focus on to Adams in an attempt to portray SF as economically illiterate.  They sense a repeat of the 2007 head to head where Michael McDowell, like some dying wasp, stung Gerry.  To be honest, the sting had a huge effect.  It is all completely unfair of course.  It no way reflects on Gerry's grasp of economics in reality.  But perception is important and fairness doesn't come into it.

Its all very predictable.  The attention can be shifted from the consensus for cuts.  All that the other parties need to do is win a glorified beauty contest based on a flawed notion that FG, with or without Labour, will be sufficiently 'different' to FF to carry the country forward.  All very predictable, except...

We knew this was going to happen.  Right?

...and SF are not alone in this.  Large swathes of the Unions share SF's analysis, as do many economists, including David McWilliams.  The information is available, the ammunition is there. 

Furthermore, whose mess is this?  Which economic orthodoxy created the conditions for run away banks and shifty developers?  Fine Gael share support with Fianna Fail for the economic approach taken over the past 20 or so years.  Labour, alas, are prepared to prolong this Irish Thatcherism by supporting Fine Gael in a coalition.  Let these parties go first in there answer to the above questions.  Shrug off petty predictable jibes and keep it simple.

The Election – So far.

Just a few days into this campaign, but a few observations arising out of it so far

Fine Gael are still getting away with presenting themselves as the ‘difference’.  They have been able to sit there without feeling the need to present policy positions.  Instead they are just hiding behind the notion that they are listening. 

 I don’t think that there has been enough reference to ideology so far.  The progressive left may well be missing an opportunity to point out the inherent failings of the dominant political paradigm.  The banks failed because there was insufficient democratic control over them.  Fine Gael, like Fianna Fail, champion deregulation to free up business activity – or more accurately, to give undue advantage to the private sector.  The public sector should be about democratic ownership and accountability, the removal of effective regulation leads to zero accountability.  Fine Gael has been a subscriber to Irish Thatcherism every bit as much as Fianna Fail.  The inherent failings of this approach are the root cause of our current financial difficulties and also the visible divisions that exists in society – the huge inequality.

Labour are struggling to distance themselves from the consensus for cuts.  They are vulnerable on the question of supporting the finance bill and saying that their rationale is to move the election forward a few weeks is questionable.  No more than FG, Labour are open to be nailed on the charge that they are happy to let this government take the hit for budgetary measures that they will shake their heads at but do nothing to change in post election period.   Labour would also be very sensitive to the charge that they will be responsible for keeping Irish Thatcherism alive by supporting Fine Gael instead of using this opportunity to nail it now and build a new political and economic dispensation.

As I have said before, there is an opportunity to have an election campaign that serves to educate as much as wrest power.  What seems clear from public responses on media shows like Liveline or The Frontline is that the anger and frustration is turned towards FF and individual bankers and bondholders.  The link to a future government implementing the same ideological approach is missing.  FG are getting away with it.

Turning Quotes Around

Came across this in another article on Irish Left Review used in another context - ie By the neo-liberal guru Milton Friedman.

“Only a crisis - actual or perceived - produces real change. When that crisis occurs, the actions that are taken depend on the ideas that are lying around. That, I believe, is our basic function: to develop alternatives to existing policies, to keep them alive and available until the politically impossible becomes politically inevitable"

Couldn't have put it better myself.

To use a Friedman quote against this crisis ridden gang is indeed a sweet irony.

The Last of the Gang of Three

Margaret Thatcher has been out of office since the early 1990’s, yet her imprint on Britain and Ireland has outlived her premiership by two decades.

Thatcherism’s fan club in Ireland – The ‘Progressive’ Democrats and all who they influenced in both Fianna Fail and Fine Gael – only lasted in office from the late 80’s until, well, yesterday.

The announcement that Mary Harney is to join the growing list of deserters from a sinking government signals the end of the physical presence of Thatcher’s’ children in government.  Whether it marks the end of Irish Thatcherism is up to the electorate.

Although there were many others who could be held to account for the neo-liberal abhoration that led to the huge disparity between rich and poor and the removal of all meaningful regulation allowing banks and big corporations to let loose, there are three characters that probably represented the ideology best.

This Gang of Three were Charlie McCreevy – the only one to stay within the mother ship of Fianna Fail, Michael McDowell- born of Fine Gael aristocracy and last significant leader of the PD’s and last, but by no means least, Mary Harney – champion of privatised health care and facilitator in chief for the corporate sector.  Whether they held undue sway on Fianna Fail or were just convenient mouthpieces for an agenda that suited FF in any event, is open for debate.  Certainly, they had little or no difficulty in merging the identities of both FF and the PD’s to promote a common tax cutting, deregulation and privatisation agenda.

Like Thatcher, this neo-liberal gang, discounted the concept of society and promoted the individual.  The strong survive in this world.  The weak have to learn to survive or fall by the wayside.  The Boston over Berlin go get ‘em system where, to paraphrase the singer Lily Allen, we all become Weapons of Mass Consumption.

And that’s their legacy.  Any attempt by this gang to point to the creation of the so-called Celtic Tiger, thus writing themselves a worthy chapter in the history books, needs to be vigorously challenged.  Look around you.  This mess is theirs.

Good riddance Mary Harney.  I hope that you can sleep at night.

Coalition Killing

Definitively ruling a given party out of coalition is a tactic.  It is a tactic designed to undermine credibility and to dissuade support.

In spite of the designed ambiguity of Sinn Féin' approach during the 2007 election on the matter of potential coalition with Fianna Fail, the latter used every opportunity to rule out such an arrangement.  Fianna Fail's approach was designed to undermine SF and arguably it was a successful tactic in limiting the growth of a party that had been making inroads.

I believe that it was also true that regardless of the outcome, that FF - still heavily influenced, if not populated, with the PD's and fellow travellers, would not have accommodated SF.  The antipathy to SF among the political establishment of all hues should never be underestimated..

Of course, what isn't always given a fair hearing by the progressive left is that there wasn't an appetite among the SF grass roots for any coalition with FF.  SF's postion was placed before the membership as tactical - that ruling out the option to participate in government in the south, while in 'government' in the 6 counties, would have been foolish.  It would have flown in the face of realpolitik.  I would have disagreed with that approach, but having had a fair argument, I would have been on the losing side in the debate.  Fair enough.

Labour ruled out coalition with FF at that time.  It probably served them well to do that, as they grew in the polls and could present themselves as principled.  Where Labour completely fall down is in their willingness to coalesce with FG - a mirror image of FF and who advocate policies that would have led to exactly the same inequality and cronyism as we have seen.

Many people are watching Labour and Sinn Féin in terms of what both parties will say about Coalition with conservative and reactionary parties.  Both parties can and should use the tactics employed by FF and FG in terms of ruling out coalition with right wingers.  The credibility of a FG government would take a real hit if Labour looked to its progressive soul and sought alternative options.  The prospect of wiping FF from the map would be given a huge boost by SF making it crystal clear that coalition with them is off the agenda.

There is enough fluidity out there for anything to happen.

The Bluesirts

Its a win win to focus attacks on Fine Gael in the run up to the election.

For a  start, it is a complete waste of energy to concentrate too hard on Fianna Fail.  All of the groundwork has already been done there and as Leonard Cohen would say...'Everybody knows.'

Fine Gael have so far managed to get away with portraying themselves as the harbinger of change.  Vote the FF gangsters out and the professional suits of Fine Gael can take the reins and...well, nothing actually.  They believe in the same things and will act in just the same way, but with slightly posher accents.  Its only that FF have been in power for much longer that there is a bigger cast of villains and tales of skulduggery.  FG have only had enough time in government to give us Michael Lowry.  And of course, people should be reminded that FG gave us Michael McDowell via the PD's.

Exposing FG has a bonus side effect.  It causes Labour difficulty.  They are continuing to nail their colours to the FG mast and lose the opportunity of a progressive coalition - in or out of government.  They are leaving themselves open to the charge that a vote for Labour is a vote for FG, which I am sure will become a theme in this campaign.  Its not too late for Labour to have a good think about that.

Putting both of these parties on the defensive allows progressive political parties, groups and individuals to put positive and alternative ideas forward.  It has been a long time since I have seen such an opportunity to challenge orthodoxy, take apart spurious arguments and present fresh ideas to an electorate.

Name Dropping

I think that it will be hard to keep up the pace with these blogs over the next 10 weeks.  Anybody serious about change will need to be playing some part in the coming election.  Not necessarily following a particular candidate or party, though that would help of course. 

There are lots of other activities to attend to.  Any protests called need to have big numbers.  The print media need to have a constant flow of letters and comments on the on-line editions.  Local and national radio needs to be monitored and every opportunity taken to pursue progressive politics and take on the conservative parties and their local spokespeople or candidates.  Creative street protest and/or theatre at strategic points in the campaign could make a difference.

Ideas need to be fed into te ether in anyway possible.  For those of us who may have some time to sit at the computer, the cyber war will have to go on.

Here's one thought that occurs to me for a start.  Drop these names as often as possible.  Thatcher, Harney and McDowell.   All of these lovely people have influenced the current crop of front men, like Cowen and Lenihan.  While Fianna Fail seem to be the easiest targets here, remember that Fine Gael is the McDowell's spawning ground.  Fine Gael have a policy platform that is every bit as influenced by Thacterite neo-liberalism as their tweedle-dee twin, Fianna Fail.

Just a though - only trying to help.

Elvis Costello - Tramp The Dirt Down

Bury neo-liberalism at this election - and tramp the dirt down.

John Cooper Clarke - Beasley Street

A homily to Thatcher's Britain.  Hot band too!

Pre-Election Politics

There is very little time left to write anything 'political' that isn't going to be swamped by the multitude of candidates who will be prostrate before us in the coming 10 weeks or so.  I should know,  I was one of those creatures back in 2002.  I wish all progressive candidates well.  Its a hard slog.

I hope that all candidates approach this election with a sense of optimism. This is a very different election from the one fought in 2007, or indeed the one I ran in - 2002.  During both of these contests, the conservative parties felt able to point to the successes of the system.  There was a largely compliant media and parties of the progressive left were, as usual, fighting each other while trying to position themselves as 'responsible' and ready to coalesce with either Fianna Fail or Fine Gael.  It was the Greens who eventually took that plunge in 2007.  Like the Lib Dems in England, they have found that the Conservative Right swallowed them up and spat them out.  Sinn Fein and Labour had a lucky escape on that occasion.

Now, if the parties and candidates choose, there is something of a blank canvas on which to shape politics into the future.  This is not to dismiss the fact that any incoming government has to deal with the economic circumstances that we find ourselves in.  There are restraints.  So much has already been done to commit us to austerity and hardship.  But, like all negotiations, all is not always as it seems.  Opponents actually respect toughness.  An incoming government with a fresh mandate and credible counter proposals can and must go back to the IMC, EU et al and work out a better arrangement.  Let the economists among us work out the detail. All progressive politicians need to do is put forward the shape of what is required to ensure fairness and equity - to build instead of shrink.  We never again have to worry about economists and conservative politicians trying to dismiss alternative approaches as unworkable.  Their bluff has been called.  Their approach has failed and failed utterly on every level.

Whatever about the big economic picture, this election is wide open in terms of political and institutional reform.  No need for modesty here.  The boat can and should be pushed out as far as possible.  Every candidate has an opportunity to tell the electorate that he or she won't work the system as before.  The electorate can observe that their incoming public representatives will be focusing on national issues.  The best service that candidates can offer the public at this time is to tell them that the day of the local man/women/fixer is over - but don't worry about it, a better way is coming.  2011 holds the potential as the year when the Gombeen man was consigned to history; when institutions - all institutions- will be called to account for what they do and do not deliver for the people; when participatory democracy becomes a reality.

Its a massive opportunity folks and one that deserves something a bit more than the usual 'I am this, I have done this..' approach from candidates.  There are many people out there who are way ahead of the political parties on all of this.  The nonsense that has been perpetrated for years that the deregulated free market system and the politics that supports it  is the only show in town has now been exposed and increasing numbers of people are seeing this.  The failure of progressive parties so far is evident in that far too many people are falling for Fine Gael's claim that they offer an alternative.  They need to be exposed on that and in the process, the Labour Party need to be convinced that they have more to offer than a guarantee of stable conservative government.

I hope that all of this can be done without name calling or sectarian disagreement on the Left.  That would be a first!  But, I believe that we are not that stupid.  If ever there was a time to bury our differences, it is now.  There is still some time for a constructive dialogue among progressive political parties, groups and individuals before blantent electioneering gets in the way.

This is an election that progressive people can enjoy.  We can and should feel liberated to let loose and engage with everybody, to educate and be educated.  In that way, if this particular election doen's quite work out, another will follow close behind.

Gilmore Digs a Hole

Eamon Gilmore is ruling out coalition with Sinn Fein on the basis that:

• The figures won't add up
• Incompatible policy

He may have walked himself and the Labour party into trouble in a number of ways.

For a start, he is pre-judging the outcome of the election.  Who knows how many votes any party is likely to get. 

On the issue of policy differences.  Gilmore needs to be asked to spell out which policies he is referring to.  Does he want to debate any of these?  Furthermore, which of Fine Gael's policies are attracting him. Would he care to spell these out?

Failure to deal with these questions would point to his anti-progressive coalition stance being based simply on a preference for cosying up to a conservative and reactionary Fine Gael.

Its a long way to the election yet, Gilmore's Achilles heel may have been found.

Labour...again!

Eamon Gilmore is protesting too much. While not yet a groundswell, there is growing pressure on the Labour leadership to seriously consider a progressive option post election. The more Fine Gael policy is placed in the spotlight, the more contradictory Gilmore's responses will become. This is the time to set the atmosphere for the next election. Its all up for grabs

..The rest of the Story

If memories of what Thatcher or for McMillan are not at the forefront of peoples mind here in Ireland, these this nefarious pair will do.

Over a decade after Thatcher’s trouncing of the concept of society, PD ideologue and Minister Michael McDowell reminded us what it is all about.

"An economy like ours demands inequality" - Michael McDowell (May2004)

Inequality is necessary.  People must compete with each other.  There have to be winners and losers.  Whilst it just sounds crude, McDowell was only stating pointing out what lay behind the economic policies successive governments.  The packaging of these policies naturally omitted the ‘truth’ as slipped out be McDowell.  That there were enough people in the Trades Unions, progressive political parties, voluntary and community groups to fight against these policies has saved us from completely aping the US model.

So, given a surplus in the Irish economy, is there any evidence to the contrary.  The final quote in this series from PD Minister and ex Tanaiste Mary Harney tells us that they acknowledge that money was available.

“…the country is awash with Money”  Tanaiste and Minister for Health Mary Harney 2005.

With an economy moving along in terms that would please a neo-liberal, why not use some of that excess money, awashing the place as it was, to help create a harmonious and equitable society by spending on the provision of services for all?  Because, those curently running the system does not want it so.  The money has now gone.  Its Ebb has flowed.  It certainly didn’t flow to the poor or disadvantaged.  Quite a lot flowed into the pockets of the already wealthy in terms of tax breaks and the spiriting away of huge dividends for the larger shareholders.  We now know that senior Bankers and their wives got a huge slice of it.

Taken together, these four short quotes help illustrate the thinking, if not the strategy, of the forces of neo-liberalism and political Conservatism.  The narrative of the past 30 years has been dominated by this thinking.  Until recent times, this narrative has been allowed to be presented as positive; there has been an attempt to say that all boats have risen in the swell of the deregulated and increasingly privatised economy.  In simple terms, private equals good, public equals bad.  The Unions are always the bad guys in an industrial dispute.  Entrepreneurs of a certain kind, like celebrities, are to be looked up to.

Together with electoral challenges, the need to support embattled communities and the defending of civil liberties won over many decades,  the Left need to ensure that the narrative of the past 30years is placed in context.  The writing of this chapter cannot be surrendered to the champions of  the right.

Who will tell the story?

There are four quotes that I think expose the real position of the political and economic Right over the past half century.  The first two were made by English Conservative politicians and are in this post.  Two more quotes are contained in the next blog.

The object here is:  a) To remind ourselves of what these people said;   b) To see what lay behind the comments; and c) To use them as a tool to counter the narrative put forward by the political right and maintained by the mainstream media.

 In historically chronological order:

"Indeed let us be frank about it - most of our people have never had it so good.”  Often paraphrased as ‘you’ve never had it so good’ said by the British Conservative Prime Minister Harold Macmillan in 1957. 

The ‘our people’ he was referring to was the ordinary working class, who should be grateful not to be living in squalor, going hungry or generally having a hard life.  The other ‘our people’ – Macmillan’s people – always had it pretty good.  He was a good old fashioned toff.  The class of person destined to lead.  The best the rest of us could hope for is a paternal pat on the back for working hard.  It was a mindset that permeated his class – the old money.  It is however an attitude adopted by his successors on the right – those that run with neo-liberal economics.  This new money also believed they were the natural leaders.  The working class were to be patted on the back for working hard, but this time they were encouraged to aspire to the middle class, away from the clutches of Trades Unions and uppity politics, but where they could work equally hard.

Conservatives and neo-liberals have dominated politics on these two islands for 30 years.  A whole generation have only known this type of political and economic system.  We would be very mistaken if we believed that this wasn’t not a clearly thought out idelogical project designed to smash the social democratic/democratic socialist post war consensus.  That which achieved for us what little we have.

The arrogance slips through however.  As conservatism and neo-liberalism took firmer hold in the 1980’s, emboldened political leaders felt they could say more:

"I think we've been through a period where too many people have been given to understand that if they have a problem, it's the government's job to cope with it. 'I have a problem, I'll get a grant.' 'I'm homeless, the government must house me.' They're casting their problem on society. And, you know, there is no such thing as society.”

Margaret Thatcher’s telling remarks in an interview with a Women’s magazine in 1987 are an explicitly ideological statement.  We hadn’t evolved into complex societal structures at all.  We were, and remain a collection of individuals.  We must look after ourselves.  As we all leave the working class behind and embrace our new found home among the middle classes, we must abandon the collective and focus on the individual.  We should compete with each other for better jobs, to own houses -not rent them from councils – not just keep up with the Jones’s, but overtake them.  If the Jones’s fall on hard times, its their failure not ours. 

Of course, that means we spend more on all of the trappings along the way.  We may or may not be earning higher wages, but we are sure spending it at a greatly accelerated level, making millionaires out of business owners and billionaires out of millionaires – those at the very top of this engineered hierarchy.

The Bourgeois Blues

No need for any narritive from me!

Shine a Light on Fine Gael

One of the clear objectives for people who want to see far reaching progressive change is to work towards the best possible government from the next election.

It is a given that Fianna Fail won’t form part of that government.  Nobody would touch them.  Even if the figures added up and it was technically possible to form a government between Fianna Fail and Labour, it was long ago ruled out by Labour.  That, as it turned out, was a smart move for them to make at time.  Support rose for the party, as people drew the conclusion that principle lay behind the decision.  It was also very astute.   Labour saw that there was a sizable and expanding progressive electorate out there.  The decision to create clear distance between them and Fianna Fail was calculated to increase their political strength.

The bookies favourite is for a coalition between Fine Gael and Labour.  Labour are going along with this perception.  In the immediate aftermath of the fallout from the collapse in the banking system and the run up to the last budget, the public mood has been swayed towards looking for the quickest and most effective way of consigning the current government to history.  Therefore, there has been a boost to both parties poll ratings.  The boost to Labours ratings can be explained in two ways.  In the first instance, they have been presented as the most obvious partner to Fine Gael.  They have been in government together before and in does not stretch the imagination to put them in a partnership again.

The other factor is that one connected to Labour’s decision to rule out Fianna Fail and to take off the gloves in attacking the main governing party inside at outside Leinster House.

The rise in the Fine Gael vote I think also falls into two main areas.  As the largest opposition party, they are seen as the most likely to replace Fianna Fail and in simple terms, they are the quickest and easiest way to punish the incumbents.  There are also a safe home for conservative minded voters and those who want to maintain the political and economic system pretty much as it is.  If Fianna Fail are removed together with all of the negative baggage they carry, then a new administration with a different cast of characters can take over without having to change the overall way in which the economy is run. 

The ideology and policy platform of Fine Gael is indistinguishable in any meaningful way from Fianna Fail.  They both believe in deregulated and privatised provision of public services.  They both want to roll back the state. They are both conservative parties. That needs saying and repeating at every opportunity.

There are a group of people who I believe are thinking about their politics. People have  been exposed to a one-size fits all ‘choice’ between two conservative parties and a largely compliant media who have dismissed any variation in policy positions or any fresh thinking that may challenge what had become economic orthodoxy.  The collapse in the banking system and the light that this has shone on the weaknesses of this capitalist open economy has stirred enough debate to at least open minds towards alternatives.

That these people may feel that their best option would be to vote for Fine Gael in order to sufficiently change the order, has to be a major concern to all who want to see real progressive change.  It also poses a challenge.

There are two elements to that challenge.  The first is to convince this group that a vote for Fine Gael would not change anything.  Fine Gael need to be challenged on their policy platform and on their ‘vision’.  What do they want to see in 5 or 10 years time.  They are open to attack on there plans for the public sector and the increased role for the private sector.

The other way that people could be discouraged from voting for Fine Gael is to ensure that the party that would have to support them in any new government, Labour, moved away from that position.

That is an enormous challenge.  All current indications are that the leadership of the Labour party are gearing up for government with Fine Gael.  It’s the easiest option for them.  There are also conservative elements within the Labour party who would feel comfortable with this type of coalition.  However, there are many within the Labour party and the wider Labour and Trade Union Movement who can see the opportunity for much wider and more radical change in the current climate.  They can see that this is one of those moments in history when real change can be effected.  They too can see that the political and social landscape can be radically changed and that we are on the verge of being able to consign the neo-liberal domination of the past few decades to history.

The Labour party have an opportunity to contribute to the atmosphere of change.  They can join with others to put a different type of vision before the people.  One that shifts the political paradigm.  In doing so, they would be playing a significant part in influencing that group of electors who mistakenly believe that Fine Gael can be a lead actor in creating a better society.

Conservative people will stay with Fine Gael and whatever remains of Fianna Fail.  Progressive forces can then work together to forge ahead with putting a people-centred vision before the electorate.