Standing firm and demanding social justice and economic equality

By Carál Ní Chuilín

The recent utterances by, firstly Peter Robinson and then Sammy Wilson of the DUP, warning of proposed cuts show that Unionists need to sever the emotional and subservient strings that tie them to the British Parliament at Westminster.
Before surrendering to the demands of the British Tory agenda of Public Service cuts, they should have a word with their party colleagues who have squandered the opportunity to save hundreds of millions of pounds through their obstinate opposition to anything that doesn’t fit in with their narrow political agenda.

They should speak to Edwin Poots, who scuppered the Reform of Public Administration which could have saved hundreds of millions over 25 years; or their DUP party colleagues, who are blocking the implementation by Caitríona Ruane of ESA, the single education authority, which could save tens of millions of pounds annually - money that could be used for building new schools and other front line services.
Those potential savings are based on maximizing efficiency and cutting out waste – not wholesale attacks on frontline workers and disadvantaged communities.

How can well-heeled DUP politicians call for frontline cuts when the British Treasury will rightly point to their self-serving opposition to managed reform through RPA and ESA?
Instead of meekly accepting cuts imposed on the North, what Unionists and other local politicians should be arguing for is control of our own financial affairs.
We need to be investing in recovery, not slashing and burning. You cannot cut your way to recovery. What we need to do is revitalise the economy – protecting the public sector. We need to invest in development – focusing on small and medium-sized enterprises. And the best way we can do that is by getting the resources and controls over to Ireland; demanding fiscal powers for the Assembly; managing all-Ireland stimulus; and acquiring the tools to rebuild a new sustainable economy.

Modern sustainable economics demands that public money should be prioritized towards areas and sectors of greatest need, to promote economic growth and equality on the basis of addressing objective needs. Yet the Tory agenda – which the DUP meekly serves – will widen the gap between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have nots’, making inequalities worse and thereby deepening social disadvantage across all our communities.

It was not the ordinary punter on the street that brought along this recession but rather the greed of the banks and those that creamed healthy profits from the labour of the working poor during the so-called ‘good times’.
Certainly, Sinn Fein recognises that we must address the probability of this current British government attempting to introduce cuts.
That is why we are arguing for all parties to the Executive to unite in opposition to the impositions of cuts. That is what the electorate expect of their representatives.
We will have to plan for whatever unfolds of course, that is a given. But the starting point in such a plan cannot be the acquiescence, which the DUP appear to be advocating. The starting point has to be standing firmly against cuts.

Why should those that did not benefit from economic growth during the ‘boom times’ be made to pay for the ‘bust’ due to the greed of others?
The British Government will no doubt intend to make savings at the expense of those that can least afford it while pumping billions into military occupations of other countries on the other side of the world or continuing to spend vast amounts on a nuclear arsenal. Where is the justice in this?
All the local parties need to join together and fight against any cuts that will affect the services to which our people are entitled, especially after over 30 years of mismanagement and under-funding.

If the last few decades have taught us anything in the North, it is that you’ll get nothing by bending the knee to ‘the powers that be’ across the water, but rather by standing firm and demanding social justice and economic equality.