The Labour Party and Northern Ireland
At the risk of sounding like I have too much experience of this, I imagine that being voted out of government must be a lot like getting chucked by someone you really liked. The initial shock is followed by despair – closely followed by the attribution of blame and an identity crisis. A process of rebuilding confidence and re-defining then starts.
This is where the Labour Party is at right now.
And part of this re-defining of the party has involved the re-surfacing of the age-old question: Should Labour contest elections in Northern Ireland?
The question is particularly relevant as Northern Irish members of Labour (now that they’re allowed to join) feed into this process of re-definition.
Through the decades of The Troubles, there have been many attempts to organise the Labour Party in NI – a ‘Campaign for Labour Representation’ sought to persuade Labour to stand in the late 1970s, continued through the 80s, but came to nothing. After decades of not accepting members from the province (instead encouraging members to join the SDLP), the Labour Party finally permitted Northern Irish members to join in 2003 – but only off the back of legal advice. This was followed by the setting up of a formal Northern Ireland constituency organisation in 2009 – again, after the threat of legal action.
Labour – or at least, the Northern Ireland members of Labour – had hoped to stand candidates in the recent local elections; that window of opportunity has now passed without any Labour candidates on any ballot. Despite this, the prospect of Labour standing in Northern Ireland in the future seems like a possibility.
But why?
The argument I hear most often (from a few friends involved in flirtation with Labour) is that it would bring a progressive voice to Northern politics. Would it? Adam Ramsay has already written articulately here on why Labour are not progressive, I don’t need to repeat that here. Those Northern members of Labour might rightly point back to the honourable progressive traditions of the old Northern Ireland Labour Party. But that was a democratic socialist party – not a Tory Lite party. Not that anyone I know in Labour NI are Blairites – but is the idea to present a democratic socialist platform? If so, organising Ed Miliband’s party in Northern Ireland won’t accomplish that. Some of the people that I know have joined because they hate what the Tories are doing – and rightly so – but it’s important not to divorce the Labour Party in Northern Ireland (if it stood in elections) from the same party that disappointed us all so much when it was in government. If NI Labour is going to be more progressive than its parent party, should it be part of it?
Another argument is the idea that it will fight sectarianism. Despite the seductive idea of a progressive party that could unite working people in huge numbers on both sides of the divide, Labour’s entry into Northern Ireland wouldn’t be a panacea to sectarianism. The issues dividing communities and the ingrained voting behaviour and attitudes run much deeper than simply who you choose to vote for. A red rose and a name on a ballot paper isn’t going to solve that – and previous attempts to organise Labour groupings in Northern Ireland (the list is endless – Labour Party of Northern Ireland, Labour ’87, Newtownabbey Labour Party, Labour Coalition, etc) have attracted little success. Will this attempt really be different?
Another off-putting factor for me is the way in which the Labour Party treats its Northern Irish members. Miliband’s first visit to NI came as a shock to the local Labour activists, and he didn’t even bother to meet with them. Even before this, it was the threat of legal action that allowed these activists to become members of Labour, and even more cajoling for them to be allowed to form a constituency group. Labour have had to be dragged kicking and screaming into Northern Ireland. Now its members fight their party for the right to go out and win votes for them.
From an outsider’s perspective, I’d have given up by now. Their perseverance is admirable. Labour is lucky to have people dedicated enough in the province to keep at it this long. To name but one, Queen’s University Belfast lecturer Boyd Black has been campaigning on the issue since the early 80s. Maybe Labour doesn’t deserve such dedication. If the Labour leadership haven’t got their heart in it, should those members contest elections on behalf of a party that treats them with such contempt?
So what is the natural home for progressive voters and activists in Northern Ireland? There’s a party out there whose policies are in tune with many Labour activists, but I would say that wouldn’t I? In any case, I doubt the party that’s “relaxed about people getting filthy rich,” – the party of cuts, tuition fees, private finance initiatives and the war in Iraq -can be the progressive future of Northern Irish politics. Progressive activists belong elsewhere.
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Never having been particularly excited by the ‘constitutional question’ and a person who fully identifies with the Labour camp (and as one who considers myself an environmentalist) this debate is one of particular interest for me. But as is ever the case it’s easier said than done.
For example neutrality to the union raises an interesting question. Can a serious mainstream political party afford to be neutral on an issue? Is it even possible? Can you sell a political organisation on A, B, and C but say ‘oh no we don’t touch X, Y, and Z’ ? Sure you can allow a free vote in certain issues but this tends to be a short term dodge rather than a core position. And of course for British Labour to adopt a position of being neutral on one aspect of the union (NI) but not to others (Scotland and Wales) would leave themselves open to all manner of accusations from the Tories, SNP, Plaid Cymru etc
Also it is possible for an organisation (eg the Trade Unions) to operate between two of the Belfast/Dublin Belfast/London nodes but it’s also very difficult.
The unions in NI have had to remain silent in situations such as Bloody Sunday fall out, as to not fall into the old debate (and subsequently lose members). Selective silence is a luxury allowed to some types of organisations but not to political parties. The Greens in my understanding have used their imagination and gone for some sort of confederal arrangement however Steven Agnew being leader in NI but his North Down neighbour John Barry going for Dep. Leader in Dublin just confuses the issue.
It’s also a fair bet that if either Irish or British Labour decided to contest elections in NI then they would be branded nationalist/unionist respectively despite any possible declarations of being agnostic. So how do you prove that you’re offering something new anyway? The multi-faceted aspect of identity here complicates things – if Labour found themselves in Stormont tomorrow what position would they adopt on an Irish Language Act, Parading issues or academic selection?
And can we be really honest with ourselves here; would Labour vote on what they honestly believe to the best position or would they vote to reinforce their non-sectarian credentials? I would like to hope they’d remain principled but parties do like setting traps for each other (this is a challenge facing Alliance and Greens at the moment and to be fair the Greens at least stick to their principles)
What about the lowering of corporation tax and the creation of enterprise zones? I can certainly see a schism developing here between the union members and the new labour wing. There’s only so broad a church can be before it loses any sense of focus and direction. And surely if Enterprise zones good enough for NI then it’s good enough for parts of London right?
The sad reality is that politics in NI include issues of nationality and culture in a large way (frustrating as it is to many of us) but at the end of the day you don’t get to choose the question only your answer.
PS Apologies for cross posting
Adam,
I blogged recently on the subject of Labour standing in Northern Ireland. Read my posting here (http://bit.ly/j4pYgC).
As I see it the former position of the UK Labour party was derived from the need to keep the broad church of those who supported the Union and those who supported Sinn Fein and others together.Official response was to do with the SDLP, but this was the reality.
As the peace process moves forward, and politics becomes more real here with Bread and Butter issues the tactic has to change. The broad church becomes not a liability, but a strength, both here and in the rest of the party.
The constituency party here is completely united on this issue, and regard this as a necessary step in rebuilding Labour, as a whole party not just the Northern Ireland section.
Labour standing here will be good for all…
Irish labour looked into standing here (which I would have been quite happy with) but decided at the last minute to back the sdlp. Personally, I think it was fear of taking in sinn fein up here and getting beat. Would have been just what sf needed to boast about down south.
Adam – the party held the vote at the conference due to the legal action. However the party members were more than happy to vote and give us the right to join.
The labour government might not have done all that you feel it should. That’s fine. However it doesn’t take away the fact it is a labour party regardless if you agreed it is or not.
Thanks for the comments.
Kris, although the intention is to bring Labour politics to NI, I’m not sure what that is, given Labour’s record in government in Westminster. Though, I appreciate that those in Labour NI (including yourself) who I know aren’t exactly Mandelson.
Although Labour’s conference made the decision to permit membership applications in 2003, it was the issuing of a writ, utilizing equality legislation, that spurred that move. This appears to have been the case also when it comes to formal organisation: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/5384716.stm
Personally it’s hard for me not to describe Labour as having to have been dragged kicking and screaming into the North when they had to be threatened with legal action in order to bring them here. “Personal problem” makes it sound like I’m pursuing a vendetta – I don’t have a personal problem with Labour; just a political problem. I appreciate that Labour had some good achievements during their time in government – and yes, they weren’t as bad as the Tories – but ‘better than the Tories’ has never really inspired me.
Peter, I think similar overtures were made to Irish Labour in the past, and met with little success – but I do agree it would make more sense. There’s some good analysis on the subject of Irish Labour coming up North here:
http://www.irishleftreview.org/2008/12/02/missed-opportunity/#more-768
While I agree with your conclusion the question I never found a satisfactory answer to was why Irish Labour don’t organise in the north?
They had some structure up here from the Democratic Left part of their ’90s merger, and don’t have a great relationship with the SDLP. In fact, before they destroyed themselves there was some talk of the SDLP and Fianna Fail merging.
It makes even more sense given that Trade Unions are organised on an Irish basis, rather than a UK basis in the north.
So maybe it would be better for Labour members in the north to look to Dublin rather than London for Labour representation. And Irish Labour is also dramatically better than British Labour)…
For my part, Labour members aren’t wanting to stand in NI to be another non secterian party, but to introduce real LABOUR politics to NI. Much like what the Greens want to with Green Politics.
Yes, the EM visit was an embarrasment but for a party that is building from the ground up mistakes will be made. Your party has had its fair share of embarrasments the last couple of years itself.
You note that Labour has been brought ‘kicking and screaming’ into Northern Ireland. While I disagree with that statement it should be noted that people in NI are allowed to join because the party conference voted in overwhelming numbers to have it that way.
You may have personal problems with the last labour government, but it did do a lot of good for the UK.
Also, a little side note – I checked your partys last submission to the electoral commission and Labour NI members out number Green NI members 3:1!
Thanks for that Ed. I think it’s a question of what you consider to be “tribal” or “sectarian”. It’s wrong to describe everyone who votes for the big four parties as tribal or sectarian for example – certainly some of their voters might be that way, but not all of them. Not that you’re using that definition – just that many do.
It’s important that those parties who seek to attract everyday issue-based support from both sides of the community see their votes increase – and we are seeing this very slowly happen. But it’s important to recognize that getting everyone to vote for cross-community parties isn’t the solution – rather it would be a symptom of the solution.
Adam,
I’m inclined to agree, particularly on the issue of sectarianism, but I’d add that so far, The Green Party and Alliance haven’t been able to make much of a dent in that area thus far.
The overwhelming majority of voters prefer Tribal politics and it is a political reality that has not yet been properly addressed by either; both preferring to campaign behind a belief that the people do want non tribal politics despite clear evidence to the contrary.