The future of the Left in Northern Ireland

To the Northern Ireland Regional Conference of the Workers’ Party this morning, for an interesting debate on ‘Opportunities for the Left in Northern Ireland’. The speakers were Gerry Grainger from the Workers’ Party; Michael Robinson from the Irish Labour Group in Northern Ireland; and Chris McGimpsey from the Ulster Unionist Party (as it still is – the link with the Tories is an electoral pact, not a merger).

There was general acknowledgement from the speakers that the Left remains fragmented, although McGimpsey, in the most interesting contribution, said wryly that left-wing unionists are in the biggest mess. Gerry Grainger was good at setting the context , although he may have over-done the crisis of capitalism bit. Neoliberalism is by no means going to go away, rather, the experience of the past two years shows we’ll see a new and more vicious form as the state focuses on protecting structures of capital accumulation at the expense of jobs and public services. Grainger felt that the current situation provides opportunities for the Left, and Robinson agreed, giving the example of how the NI Executive’s Investment Strategy needs to be taken out from behind the closed doors of the Strategic Investment Board and placed back into the democratic arena of the Assembly, for revision in response to the current economic climate. Trouble is, Michael, you need to be an MLA to contribute to that debate, and your party has banned its members from standing in elections in NI.

Grainger asked some key questions: how should we define ‘the Left’? What should be the role of the trades unions? How should the Left approach the issue of the sectarian divide? And, perhaps most crucially, how can the different between the social democratic and the revolutionary Left be acknowledged, to allow both groups to work together to protect jobs and services without the almost inevitable falling out? McGimpsey thought the UUP’s new link with the Tories would cost the UUP working class votes in areas like the Shankill, and might open up opportunities for other parties. He advocated a broad Left alliance based on specific issues, an idea which was supported by many speakers from the floor. Other issues raised included the possibility of a ‘think tank’ group to research and publicise a Left, non-sectarian viewpoint (widely welcomed); tackling political apathy; different views on whether we need another Civic Forum; the need to recruit more young people; and whether the trades unions might be best placed to lead a ‘Left’ campaign.

The question of electoral activity was fudged. Someone from the British Labour Party suggested negotiating an agreed list of candidates but this was not taken up by other speakers and Robinson, unsurprisingly, said he ‘doesn’t have a fetish’ about electoralism. But whether to put time and energy into standing for election could be a fault line in a Left alliance and is fundamental to an agreement on tactics – do you put pressure on others from outside decision-making structures, or do you try to get in there, form wider partnerships if necessary, and make changes rather than rely on others to see the light.

The Workers’ Party are to be commended for organising such open access events, and getting around 100 people to turn out on a Saturday morning. I hope they will be able to pursue the idea of a broad Left alliance.