The isolation of electoral politics in the north of
Ireland from that in Britain meant that the general election campaign
and result were of a very different nature to the campaign elsewhere.
The sectarian divide once again raised its ugly head as the dominant
factor in politics in the north. Yet the result
also highlighted discontent within the working class; Peter Robinson’s
defeat in East Belfast demonstrated not just disgust at the actions of
Peter and Iris Robinson but also with the expenses scandal and the
degeneration of parliamentary politics.
The decline of the UUP vote echoed a strong anti-Tory
sentiment from both sides of the sectarian divide which was only
hardened by Cameron’s declaration that the north was to be a prime
target for public sector cuts. This is even more alarming for the
working class than in Britain, given the fact that over 70% of the
north’s economy is reliant on public sector spending. Pro-Tory
candidates lost three seats, whist Sylvia Hermon who resigned from the
UUP stating she was “not a Tory” and stood as an independent gained an
increase of 13% of the vote. Whilst she is hardly a pro-working class
candidate her result demonstrates the mood of resentment towards the
Tories. In Britain this sentiment led to the strengthening of the Labour
vote in its traditional urban industrial heartlands.
However the vacuum in independent working class representation
in the north and the predominance of sectarianism resulting from
Ireland’s partitioned status produced different results. This manifested
itself in a unionist unity pact in Fermanagh and South Tyrone and a
hardening of the vote towards Sinn Fein with them up 1.2% on the 2005
figure whilst the SDLP declined by 1% from the last general election.
This represents a general trend towards the upper hand lying with the
party seen as more willing to press with a harder sectarian image and
thus for the interests of “their” side. Sinn Fein is now fully embedded
in the sectarian set up in the north. SF has effectively abandoned any
commitment to a united Ireland, let alone a socialist one, that it may
have claimed in the past. Their solution to the economic crisis is the
same as all other bourgeois parties: make the working class pay! This
was recently seen when Gerry Adams came out in favour of lowering the
corporation tax levels to the same as those in the south, 12.5%.
Peter Robinson’s defeat in East Belfast was notable in shoring
up the working class’ discontent with their supposed political
representatives. Robinson now stands as the highest profile ‘victim’ of
the expenses scandal. Yet the fact that he lost his seat to Alliance
demonstrates that the vote against Robinson was not simply against him
and his wife lining their own pockets at the public’s expense but also
against the sectarian parties as a whole. However,
Alliance is affiliated to the Liberal Democrats and although Naomi Long
may not be sitting on the government benches in the new parliament her
party is tied to the coalition preparing an unprecedented offensive
against the working class. As we have highlighted above this will
disproportionately affect the very voters of East Belfast whose support
she relied on to gain her seat!
Clearly therefore the politics of sectarianism and those of so
called “progressive” politics offer no way out. The Tory government is
preparing an austerity budget within the next 50 days which will contain
huge cuts and Cameron has already stated the north will be prominent in
the firing line. The working class has already responded to recent
attacks on pay and conditions in the postal strike and civil service, we
are now set for an all out battle to defend out public services. Yet
this is a clear political battle, under capitalism cuts are the only
solution. Only through working class representation through our existing
mass organisations, the trade unions, can we lay the foundation for a
struggle against cuts which crosses the sectarian divide as part of the
wider fight for a united socialist Ireland
