By Harry Hutchinson, member of Labour Party, Northern Ireland
It is extraordinary that a political party can simply bring down the government institutions simply due to their support dwindling in the polls. Yet this is the case, and it demonstrates the crisis in the largest party in Northern Ireland, the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP). By resigning the position the party held as First Minister, they have effectively collapsed the Northern Ireland assembly for the duration.
Most voting Protestants in NI have backed the DUP, formed originally by Ian Paisley, for almost two decades, trusting them to maintain the union with the UK at all costs. However, Brexit exposed the DUP as a party putting corporate interests first. The DUP went against the majority in the North who supported EU membership and financed adverts for EU withdrawal, in the knowledge that trade with mainland Britain would be disrupted, ironically undermining the UK link.
The Northern Ireland protocol
In order to maintain an open border between North and South in Ireland – something desired by the overwhelming majority of the population – it was necessary after Brexit for Northern Ireland to remain in the EU single market and customs union, effectively leaving part of the UK, Northern Ireland, still within the EU for trade purposes. But with the UK as a whole out of the EU, a special arrangement, the ‘protocol’ had to be established, so that trade between Britain and Northern Ireland was monitored, in order not to breach EU regulations.
Now, after initially agreeing to the protocol, the DUP want it to be renegotiated. Why? Because the DUP have, seen their electoral support eroding away since 2017, mainly to the non-sectarian Alliance Party. Although remaining the largest party (by a small margin), DUP support dropped by just over 1% in the 2017 Assembly election. This was probably due to the ‘Cash for Ash’ scandal, one of the biggest scams in British corporate history. The 2019 general election proved even worse for the party, with a 5.4% fall, while the Alliance Party, saw its vote increase by a massive 8.8%, giving them a seat in Westminster.
With Northern Ireland Assembly elections due in May this year, the DUP are attempting to make the protocol and the union with the UK the central issues, with the aim of repositioning themselves as the most trusted party to preserve the union. But the problem they face is that the protocol comes well down the list of concerns that people are facing now.
Inflation, particularly in relation to food and energy is the major crisis people are facing, particularly in Northern Ireland which has a higher proportion of people on benefits than any other part of the UK. The next must important issue is the ongoing crisis in the NHS. A staggering one in six of the population are waiting for some kind of consultant referral. Opinion polls show that the protocol comes something like fifth on a list of people’s concerns.
The DUP is now faced with an election that could see them losing the position of being the largest political party and therefore missing out on the post of First Minister in the coalition/power sharing assembly, and they have not as yet made any promise that they will set up the government institutions again, even after the May election.
Business as usual
At the moment bills are continuing (26 in total) to come forward to be dealt with in the Assembly, as if it were business as usual. The Westminster Government have already legislated for this kind of crisis, allowing direct rule from London for a period of 6 months. However, this function does not include the passing of the budget, so not knowing what expenditure they will be allowed public services cannot plan for the year(s) ahead.
Most people understand that the DUP have pulled a stunt, to cover up for falling support. Even the media can do little to hide the hypocrisy of the DUP. The Tories in Westminster seem to have turned a blind eye to the DUP bringing down the Assembly, claiming it is for the parties in Northern Ireland to sort out, yet these same Tories have relied on the DUP to keep them in power in the past and may yet need them again.
For a socialist Labour Party
Since the Good Friday Agreement that set up the so called power-sharing Stormont administration, the main Parties of the Assembly have largely followed the political process in Britain. No serious steps have been taken to address the health crisis here or to support people’s living standards. The aim of both of the main parties – the DUP (as well as smaller Unionist parties) and Sinn Fein – is to keep the National Question as the main issue all political debates, and thus to carve up the votes along sectarian lines.
Norther Ireland needs a socialist Labour Party based on the trade unions throughout the whole of Ireland, a party that is linked to the Labour and trade union movement in Scotland, England and Wales. The people in Norther Ireland need a party that will unite them, particularly the 40% who don’t generally vote, many of whom have abandoned the parliamentary system of capitalism.
