Best way to stop Fine Gael agenda is to vote against the coalition for cuts
Labour’s attack on Fine Gael as the ‘party of austerity’ is cynical and opportunist
A cohesive opposition to welfare and spending cuts will only come from a strong left-wing presence in the Dáil. The United Left Alliance (ULA), which represents a spectrum of political parties including the People Before Profit Alliance and Socialist Party, said the three largest parties were all signed up to an agenda of "savage" spending cuts in order to bail out the banks.
Pictured LtoR: Joe Higgins, Brian Greene, Clare Daly, Richard Boyd Barrett V "Enda Kenny", "Eamon Gilmore", "Michael Martin"
The main establishment parties are at one in the cuts agenda and any apparent disagreement between FG, Labour Party & FF is an "illusion".
According to Richard Bouyd Barrett *“Both Fine Gael and Labour will continue the attacks on ordinary people. Neither is committed to reversing the cuts and tax hikes in the Budget. Neither is committed to scraping the Universal Social Charge. We should not forget that both parties facilitated the government in passing this draconian budget. Both parties are fundamentally committed to taking money from the public to bail out the banks. Neither is committed to taxing the real wealth in the country. The idea of a balanced government has no meaning when both parties are committed to cuts. The best way to stop the Fine Gael agenda of cuts is to put a real opposition in the Dail who will stand up to Fine Gael and mobilise the public in a widespread campaign of opposition to cuts.
Todays poll shows that Labour is on the slide. Labour have failed to offer a real alternative and increasingly the electorate are seeing through the rhetoric. Until it refutes the IMF Labour will remain locked into the coalition for cuts. A key issue facing the electorate is jobs. Neither Fine Gael and Labour have policies which will lead to a serious assault on unemployment. Neither have given a commitment to refute the IMF deal and use the Pension Reserve Fund to invest in jobs. There is a crying need for investment. For every billion invested we can create up to 12,000 jobs. Labour has not committed to the demand of Unite the Union for a 15 billion euro investment programme.
In the next Dail the ULA will offer principled and determined opposition to all of those who would seek to inflict further pain on PAYE workers, the unemployed and the poor.”*
Joining him at a tug-of-war outside Anglo-Irish Bank headquarters in Dublin today, Joe Higgins of the ULA in Dublin West, said. "Fundamentally neither party represents any change in current policy which is focused in cutting the livelihood workers, the unemployed and social welfare recipients in order to fund the bailout of the banks."
Richard Boyd Barrett said the alliance was hopeful of taking between four and nine seats. "We are getting tremendous feedback on the canvas. We’d hope the ULA will take enough seats to form our own technical group in the Dáil. If we don’t we would be very happy to work with like-minded left independents."
The People Before Profit Alliance will offer determined opposition "to all of those who would seek to inflict further pain on PAYE workers, the unemployed and the poor" in the next Dáil.