Some party principles…

Here’s a little exercise I did this week, looking at the party principles of some of our larger or largish political groupings, particularly those more clearly positioned to the centre/populist/leftish end of the spectrum.

Let’s start with the Labour Party:

Core Party Principles

The four principles on which Socialism is based are Freedom, Equality, Community and Democracy.
From its first election programme in 1920 to the present day, these principles have been at the centre of the policies which the Labour Party has offered to the Irish people. These are the values which have ruled our major campaigns and our political activity whether in opposition or in Government.
The Labour Party is committed to representing the ideals of our movement in Government and ultimately we aim to be the majority party in Dail Eireann.

Freedom
Freedom is a fundamental human right. No society is free unless the men and women who make up that society are free individuals. Poverty, homelessness, unemployment and ignorance are the enemies of freedom. Labour extends the same freedom to all members of society and opposes the victimisation of individuals on the basis of class, colour, creed, religion, sex, sexual orientation, race or ethnic origin.

Equality
Equality implies reorganising society with the specific object of creating a more equal distribution of wealth and power, and not just opportunities for individuals to become powerful or wealthy. The Labour Party sees equality not only in economic terms but also in terms of social political and economic rights. It is necessary for the individual to enjoy these rights under the law if there is to be full and true equality.

Community
Socialism realises that men and women by necessity and by choice live in co-operation with each other. In the community or the workplace, the trade union or the social club there is a common sense of belonging and of purpose. The spirit of Community places Labour on the side of the oppressed, not only in Ireland but also in all countries of the world and in particular in the Third World.

Democracy
Democracy is fundamental to the concept of giving power to people to shape their own lives. This empowering of people should cover all aspects of life, including culture, politics, justice and the workplace.

As regards how those policies are implemented, one won’t get a clear sense of that from the LP site. In fairness there are documents here on what they are doing, but I have to be honest, I quail at having to read them. They are – no doubt – a testament to its time in government but the linkage to core party principles appears unclear. And moreover it seems as if a layer of policy is simply missing. How is “Freedom” expressed in practice – or rather how do they envisage it expressed?

Consider by way of comparison the following from Fianna Fáil:

CONSTITUTION OF FIANNA FÁIL
1. Fianna Fáil is a National Movement. Its aims are:-
(i) To secure in peace and agreement the unity of Ireland and its people.
(ii) To develop a distinctive national life in accordance with the diverse traditions and ideals of the Irish people as part of a broader European culture, and to restore and promote the Irish language as a living language of the people.
(iii) To guarantee religious and civil liberty, and equal rights, equal treatment and equal opportunities for all the people of Ireland.
(iv) To develop the resources and wealth of Ireland to their full potential, while making them subservient to the needs and welfare of all the people of Ireland, so as to provide the maximum sustainable employment, based on fostering a spirit of enterprise and self-reliance and on social partnership.
(v) To protect the natural environment and heritage of Ireland and to ensure a balance between town and country and between the regions, and to maintain as many families as practicable on the land.
(vi) To promote the family, and a wider sense of social responsibility, and to uphold the rule of law in the interest of the welfare and safety of the public.
(vii) To maintain the status of Ireland as a sovereign State, as a full member of the European Union and the United Nations, contributing to peace, disarmament and development on the basis of Ireland’s independent foreign policy tradition.
(viii) To reform the laws and institutions of State, to make them efficient, humane, caring and responsive to the needs of the citizen.
2. The Movement shall be organised and known as Fianna Fáil, The Republican Party, in accordance with the Rules annexed hereto.
3. Membership of Fianna Fáil is open to all persons of Irish birth, parentage, grand-parentage or persons ordinarily and legally resident in Ireland who accept the Constitution and Rules of Fianna Fáil;

For something completely different take a read of this, which demonstrates the reactive nature of FF. There’s no core principles running through it whatsoever. To term it pragmatic would be unreasonably generous.

And here’s the SF programme, which of all of them is perhaps the most comprehensive and most clearly and unashamedly left oriented. Also worth noting is the economic policy platform, the only one to mention clearly nationalisation. Of course this is the platform of a party in opposition in the South – as is that of FF.

1. Ireland United

Sinn Féin is a 32-County party striving for an end to partition on the island of Ireland and the establishment of a democratic socialist republic. The achievement of a United Ireland is within our reach and unity offers the best future for all the people of Ireland. In these harsh economic times, it is also the best way forward from a financial and social perspective.

90 years after partition, as communities divided by the border become increasingly reintegrated, there is a growing pull towards reunification.  As old allegiances change and people from loyalist backgrounds consider voting for a republican party because it best represents their social and economic interests, the potential for dialogue with those from the unionist community about their place in a united Ireland becomes possible.

Key Sinn Féin policies to bring about our goal of a united Ireland
• A referendum on Irish unity. To be held simultaneously, North and South.
• Northern representation in the Dáil. The existing 18 Westminster MPs to automatically be accorded membership of the Dáil, with consultative and speaking rights.
• Voting rights in presidential elections to be extended to citizens in the Six Counties.
• The integration of public services and infrastructure on an all Ireland basis, enabling people to access services such as health and education nearest to them, regardless of which side of the border they are on.
• Negotiate the transfer of fiscal powers from Westminster to the north.
• Coordinate economic planning on an all-Ireland basis. Harmonise taxation policy north and south.

2. Economy
Sinn Féin believes people should be put at the heart of an economy. An economy should serve society, not the other way round. We believe a successful economy redistributes wealth via the tax and welfare systems. It sees employment, education and training as a right. And it takes into account all the activity that is not currently measured by modern economies, such as housework, child rearing, caring and volunteering.
Detailed, intensive economic policy is available on the Sinn Féin website in various pre-budget submissions, alternative economic papers and job creation documents. Our position on bank bondholders (restructure banking debts) are reiterated across the Sinn Féin website.

The following are the key Sinn Féin economic policies
• Economies should be ran counter-cyclical. Governments’ should save in the good times (booms) so they can spend in the bad (recessions). We oppose moves from Europe to constitutionally limit national budgets, as this is a fiscal determinant that should be available to sovereign decision-makers.
• The tax and social welfare systems should be redistributive. Income taxes should be fair and progressive. Governments should not rely on indirect flat taxes like consumption taxes. Welfare should be protected government spending and should be based on achieving a decent living standard for recipients while offering support to assist people re-entering the workforce.
• The state should provide essential services to the economy (nationalised/state services). There should be a state bank, a state insurance company, state fuel company, state IT company (telephone/broadband etc), state health system, state transport and state schools & universities. Sinn Féin does support private enterprise as being essential to an economy, but we also recognise the hugely important part the state has to play in economic success.
• We caution against a reliance on foreign direct investment over the growth of indigenous (homegrown) industry. We’re not an ‘isolationist’ party. We recognise the importance of trade and investment. However we do dispute the reliance of the 26-County economy in particular on foreign direct investment to create jobs. The indigenous sector has at times seen its support sacrificed to appease multinational companies based here. We want to redress this imbalance.
• We support the protection of wages and income. We do not believe in a race-to-the-bottom to improve Ireland’s ‘competitiveness’. We have strong policies on workers’ rights. Workers are the heart of an economy and should be treated as such, not just as a means to a profit. We believe in absolute entitlement to join a trade union and collectively bargain. Sinn Féin policy on workers rights is based on the republican concept of equality as outlined in the 1916 Proclamation and the Democratic Programme.
• We support the establishment of a ‘high-pay’ commission, which would ensure the gap between the highest and lower earners in a society did not exceed a specific rate.

All handy though for allowing us some means of measuring the difference between rhetoric and the reality of what is actually implemented…