24 January 2011
The intervention by the EU Commission, in the person of the chief spokesperson for Ollie Rehn, calling for the passing of the Finance Bill is another clear example (if one were needed) of who is calling the shots.
His intervention was timed to influence the outcome of the talks being held in relation to the Finance Bill between this rump of a Government and the political parties represented in the Dáil. To the EU it is not important who is in Government as long as they do as they are told. The EU and international finance houses have nothing to worry about, as all the parties that will make up the next Government are committed to fulfilling their wishes.
The Labour Party and Fine Gael protest too much, but if they get a majority in the forthcoming election they will implement the agreed four-year strategy to the letter, and will hide behind the pretext that they “had no alternative.” The duplicitous role and actions of both parties, in particular the Labour Party today, confirm that they are fully in tune with the needs of big business and the agenda of the EU and IMF.
There is a need for a plebiscite on the socialised debt and the price that working people are being forced to pay, in cuts in social services and pensions, increased taxes, and the universal social charge.
The establishment parties must not be allowed to hide behind their election manifestos, which are not worth the paper they are written on, in claiming they have a mandate for supporting these policies into the future.
Opposition and mobilisation by the people needs to be stepped up, not just leading up to the election but beyond. The left and people’s organisations need their own four-year strategy to defeat these policies and to ensure that the will of the people is heard loud and clear, and is adhered to.
