Plans are being hatched; alliances are being struck, to secure the right to sit on the Iron Throne otherwise known the seat of the First minister. A position like Joffrey’s Baratheon’s that lays out no new vision where the past remains pre-Eminent.
The establishment, that is DUP and Sinn Fein have carved out a political agenda to meet their own narrow political goals, paramount amongst these is power. They create simple political narratives to show they care, one being about the Protocol, yet to be explained, never mind being understood. The other being that a” New” Ireland or Fantasy Island (a euphemism for a 32-county socialist republic) will create an economic and political nirvana. Articles written in the local press wax lyrically about a Fantasy Island project but fail to address the complexity of the unification journey. Those in favor of unification(and I am one of the” persuadables “) need to tell us what will be “new” in this “new” Ireland and until then bury the poll.
The other simple narrative is the siege mentality of Unionism and the myth that they are an intrinsic part of the United Kingdom, loved by the great British public, really. The reality is that Loyalism’s loyalty to the Queen and State is not reciprocated, well only if you regard a visit by Charles and Camilla as reciprocation. Unionism/Loyalism is in crisis and not because the other side are smart, but because you no longer can simply be defined as, against Irish Nationalism and frankly in addition “Ulster Say’s No “does not cut it.
The simple reality is that unionist of all stripes must come to terms with the rise of Scottish, Welsh and more importantly English nationalism. This regional nationalism has weakened and loosened the bond to Britishness as a collective national identity. If unionist fail to recognize this, yet again they are failing “their people,” so what is new. The answer is that Unionist without fear, must engage in a conversation (and it is only a conversation) and hold both the Irish Governments, Sinn Fein and other nationalist’s feet to the fire about what exactly they mean by a new Ireland and their place within it.
The immoral largesse shown by Gordon Lyons under the £150 million High Street Voucher Scheme goes to the heart of ineptitude of our political representatives. This money unnecessarily added to the already pent-up demand because of savings during covid. All this in the face of the sanctimonious Thursday night clapping for many of those frontline care workers who risked their health to earn less than £10.00 per hr. Where was the political outrage from Alliance, Sinn Fein and SDLP so called parties on the so-called political left to stop this piece of crass political populism?
Governing is about choices and the choice not to support care workers and instead make a” no difference to my life payment” was not just a bad choice but immoral. Then the very same parties complain that they cannot get their hands on the £300M and that’s Jeffery’s fault.
As for the finance minister, it is never enough from tight British Government, irrespective of the £10.0B annual subsidy that comes from the English taxpayer. Mr. Murphy makes no attempt to improve our fiscal position around free prescription charges which costs £500m per annum and water rates even at a flat rate of £200.00 would generate some £160 M per annum based on current housing stock. Though the question for the electorate is, do you really want to give more of your hard-earned income to the bunch on the hill.
How are political representatives going to sort out a health service where GPs are suffering from Anthropophobia (a fear of people) and getting GP appointment is like doing the lottery, where resilience and patience is a virtue. The vulnerable and elderly will not get care at the point of need but at the point of a persistent dialing finger. I have spoken to people who have spent days if not weeks trying to get an appointment on a first come first serve basis, in the two one-hour daily call windows. The most important public policies issues are clearly, reimagining education in terms of content structure and delivery, understanding and defining what skills are needed in the age of Ai, robotics, advanced manufacturing, climate change, biotechnology and an ever-evolving digital eco system and finally, the urgent reform and refocusing of our precious health service. To date our political kleptocracy have miserably failed on all counts.
In terms of voting intentions, the SDLP and the UUP are not exactly alternatives, with neither having the capacity, ability, or talent to carve out a new future facing narrative. The UUP are now a sad bunch incoherent bunch of nice individuals who have been flailing about in the political wilderness trying to find a new identity and purpose. Since the decline of the protestant hegemony the UUP have been unable to reposition themselves in the new political landscape and if changing leader is the solution, well clearly that has not worked. In addition, uttering liberal platitudes is not enough. The SDLP a party formed out of the labour and the civil rights movements needs to be a lot less green and a lot more red. Let me explain what this means, pluralist at your core, progressive in terms of public policy and social cohesion as your goal. In addition, maybe Mr Eastwood has had his day.
On the other hand, the Alliance Party, well, they need to grow a pair of political kahunas and stop being the Inbetweeners. They need to be a party were policies and ideas are its guiding principles and where people can coalesce around a progressive, radical and liberal agenda with eyes fixed on the future. The minimum being supporting a woman’s right to choose and the principle of a secular education system, both as party policy. Their current economic proposals include more strategies than you can shake a stick at.
Education policies add up to a disappointing, nothing burger. In respect of the planning system, it is not fit for purpose, in fact it is a disaster as highlighted by the Public Accounts Committee. The electorate need to measure your performance by outputs not the number of times you use the word strategy. In addition, they need to stop being the political bottom feeders for politically uncomfortable middle class BT9 er’s.
The only advice for the Green Party is start connecting the green agenda to the wider public policy agenda, for example, energy security, economic security, climate justice, education in the age of Ai, the future of work, and a conversation around how human flourishing can be defined in a way other than GDP.
As far as People Before Profit are concerned, if they removed the phrase “state led” there would not be much of an economic policy. However, a more progressive tax system and a Robin Hood tax I would be in favor of. Only piece of advice, politics is not about long wish lists but about choices and if you try to sell people a utopia, it does not end well.
As for Aontu, a party that does not believe in a woman right to choose but proclaim to on the left of politics, is an oxymoron.
Our politicians are blessed by the indifference and apathy of the electorate who return to power the same old mediocrity both to Stormont and Local government.
A sizable proportion of these representatives continue to enjoy the benefits provided by the political welfare system, a type of kleptocracy, without a single measurable KPI. Local government structure and processes are a shambles, policies are mess, all implemented by public servants whose incompetence and indifference is sheltered by zoom screens and a management who reside in an “I’m ok Jack” silo. A system of governance that not just tolerates ineptitude but occasionally rewards it.
What we must recognize is that the Good Friday Agreement was designed to deliver peace, it did, and I am grateful for that. However, also designed in was friction, inertia, a political/sectarian stand off and a status quo to serve the narrow parochial interest of our political parties. What has been sacrificed? A future facing, people focused progressive politics in a world where change is the new normal. What the electorate need is a party with a compelling vision, were ideas, progressive public policy focused on future challenges and where social cohesion underpins its values. This is about giving the electorate a real choice, not just green, orange or for that matter that vanilla bit in the middle.
Let us know what you think in the comments section 👇
The Gob 
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