A ‘respectable’ party of the social democratic left…

Acquired the print copy of the Business Post and was curious at the point mentioned by the Stupid Statement post this weekend, that Shane Coleman’s column wasn’t accessible online. This is the one that talks about the ‘populist’ and ‘sanctimonious’ Social Democrats. 

In truth it’s a fairly pedestrian run-through of the Social Democrats position at this point. It is broadly correct that projections of 12 seats seem implausible given that the party managed to make good use of Sinn Féin’s lack of second candidates in 2020. A few more on top of their current tally seems more likely, though Holly Cairns appears quite popular and particularly with younger voters. 

Coleman then segues neatly into a very familiar critique of centre left and left of centre parties. 

‘Then what? Their decision to pass on government after the last two election – when one imagines the job of Minister of Health and the opportunity to implement its Sláintecare policy was there for the taking – raises obvious questions.’

And:

Are the Soc-Dems equipped for government? Do they have an appetite of the unpopular decisions? Or are they perennial hurlers on the ditch, pointing out all that is wrong with the game while shying away from senior championship fare? 

Does it though? My understanding is that the SDs were involved in the talks about government formation in 2020 but it was rapidly apparent that the GP was the favoured party of coalition. Not sure there was any real chance Fine Gael or Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael in 2020 would wish to carve out a government with the Social Democrats when the more ‘centrist’ Green Party was there in the mix with a particular focus on a particular area of political engagement that meant it was more likely to ignore or at least soft-pedal the aversion to state intervention on the part of the larger parties. Oh, and twelve TDs as against the SDs on half that number. Moreover, it’s not just health that is a concern of the Social Democrats. First and foremost in their 2020 Manifesto was Housing. Does Coleman think that that would work with the current government parties? As for 2016 – the party had 3 TDs – one of whom would up sticks and join Fianna Fáil shortly after. The numbers didn’t stack up, even were they minded to join a coalition given one of their TDs had just come through the experience of Labour in government with Fine Gael – a process that eviscerated the LP. In any event it took Fianna Fáil offering supply and confidence to keep FG in power. Coleman’s attempt to place the SDs at the centre of government formation in both instances seems implausible. 

Coleman also seems unable to take Holly Cairns at her own word:

Cairns herself is emphatic about wanting to be in government, but then expresses reservations about propping up FG and FF. ‘It’s not something I aspire to,’ she said last month’. Her claim that the Soc Dems are ‘on the other end of the spectrum’ on economic policy to FG in particular – despite the coalition ramping up public spending as much as any left wing government in Europe over the past four years – doesn’t suggest she is particularly open to the idea.

No, she’s not Shane. She just said so and she just explained why! She wants to be in a government that will progress SD policies. His inability to understand that public spending is not the same as left wing economic policy is telling, isn’t it? It suggests that he doesn’t grasp some basic definitions of political ideology and practice. 

What also amuses me is the negging here. He continues by further insulting the party for having its own specific viewpoint – one that won’t bend to FF and FG. 

There are suspicions that, as is often the case with opposition parties, the SDs are too concerned about their image to risk going into coalition. They like being liked too much and fear the difficult choices government entails. But at some point surely they’re going to have to jump. 

Soc-Dem voters are not radical anti-establishment nihilists. They want the kind of Nordic-style model the party promotes. And if the SDs hold the balance of power after the next election, the pressure on them to go into government will be enormous. They simply won’t get away with passing for a third time. 

Ultimately it comes down to why they’re in politics. The Greens will never hesitate about going into government. For Ryan it’s about implementing Green policies (on which they have delivered big time in this Dáil) and then let the electoral cards fall where they may. The credibility of the Social Democrats hinges on whether they are mature enough to follow suit.

This is genuinely terrible analysis. Again the Green Party is fortunate that its chosen focus is one that does not, at least in the form that the Irish GP frames it, run in the main contrary to broader economic dynamics (there is friction though, Dublin Airport, cars/bicycles/public transport and they may get worse, almost certainly will). But the SDs do present clear issues for the larger parties – at least at this point. 

Look at the inability of Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil in the teeth of the worst housing crisis in generations, one that has spilled over into so many other areas, cost of living, immigration, and so on, to adopt a state led approach to dealing with it. How precisely would the Social Democrats work with that? Does it seem at all likely that Slaintecare is going to be introduced with those two parties leading a government? 

Coleman seems able to ignore this entirely. Just as he ignores the smoking hulk of the Labour Party cast by the side of the political road having made precisely those ‘difficult choices’ and ‘mature’ decisions. 

All this is about one thing and one thing only – the Social Democrats as an adjunct to Fine Gael and/or Fianna Fáil. That’s the name of the game. A ‘respectable’ party of the social democratic left that might take the ‘hard decisions’ that Labour did in the past (and look where that left them!). Even if one put the ideological aspect aside you’d have laugh at the absurdity of the analysis being made.