By John Pickard
Two stories in the Belfast Telegraph this week underline the baleful effect of sectarian politics on the living standards of working class people and the spite of Tory ministers. While charities and voluntary community organisations in England are to receive some financial support, the equivalent spend in Northern Ireland will be swallowed up paying off debts accrued by Stormont.
The payments by the Tory government, of up to £75,000 for voluntary and charitable organisations like food banks, are nowhere near enough to compensate for the devastation they are inflicting on the big majority of working class people.
The government has said that the fund “will support frontline charities and community organisations in England struggling to meet increased demand for their critical services, such as the provision of food, emergency provisions, shelter, safe spaces, warmth and financial or housing advice”. In other works, the government has no policy to end poverty, but will offer modest support for foodbanks.
But even this meagre sum is being denied to Northern Ireland. The Tory Minister of State for Northern Ireland, Chris Heaton-Harris, set the budget for Northern Ireland in April, in the absence of a functioning Executive. He has confirmed, according to the Belfast Telegraph (July 25) that the proportionate part of the £76m package that goes to Belfast “will be used to pay off Stormont’s overspend”, into a £300m black hole, in other words.
Executive currently suspended.
What this means is that the Tory government is punishing working class people in Northern Ireland for the failure of the sectarian-based political parties to produce a functioning Executive. The Executive is currently suspended because the Democratic Unionist Party is unhappy with the trading arrangements between Britain, the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, which the UK government have negotiated with the EU.
SDLP MP Claire Hanna, told the Belfast Telegraph that Northern Ireland residents are facing “a gruelling autumn and winter with many people more people being sucked into a poverty cycle”, but that will be so much water off the backs of Tory ministers.
As if this bit of spite isn’t enough, the following day, the Belfast Telegraph also reported that a UK-wide mandate to fortify non-wholemeal flour will not be applied in Northern Ireland. The government proposal, which in itself is a positive step, is to have folic acid added to non-wholemeal flour, to prevent avoidable conditions like spina bifida in new-borns.
According to junior Tory Health Minister, Lord Markham, legislation will be brought forward next year, but without an Executive in place, he has said that it will not apply in Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland politicians have pointed out the Northern Ireland Executive, as long ago as September 2021, agreed to the addition of folic acid to non-wholemeal bread, but again, this is water off the backs of Tory ministers.
It seems that at every turn, it is working class people who suffer the consequences of sectarian-driven politics in Northern Ireland. Support for food banks and charities; taking measures against preventative birth defects: these are just some of the issues upon which a party of labour could fight, cutting across all sectarian boundaries with issues that unite the interests of working-class families in all communities.
