{"id":12992,"date":"2019-04-15T14:00:45","date_gmt":"2019-04-15T14:00:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/?p=12992"},"modified":"2019-11-24T21:55:42","modified_gmt":"2019-11-24T21:55:42","slug":"british-government-expands-powers-in-the-north","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/2019\/04\/15\/british-government-expands-powers-in-the-north\/","title":{"rendered":"BRITISH GOVERNMENT EXPANDS POWERS IN THE NORTH"},"content":{"rendered":"

The following article from Socialist Democracy (Ireland) highlights the impact of the reactionary unionism in Northern Ireland. \u00a0The Good Friday Agreement, \u00a0with its official \u00a0recognition of Unionists and Nationalists in a reformed Stormont, acted as liberal mask for the continued sectarian order in Northern Ireland. This placed the UK government in the position of ‘neutral’ arbiter, the better to ensure its continued rule. With the DUP now in alliance with May’s post-Brexit vote Conservative government, reactionary unionists see no need to maintain the liberal facade. Growing UK centralisation of power was always a central feature of Brexit, and its implications are not confined to Ireland.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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BRITISH GOVERNMENT EXPANDS POWERS IN THE NORTH<\/strong><\/p>\n

A common myth regarding the northern state is that it has been without a government since the Stormont Assembly and executive collapsed in early 2017.\u00a0 Accompanying this is the claim every that every ill in society (from sectarian intimidation to a failing health service) is down to (or at the very least made worse) by the absence of devolved government.\u00a0 What usually follows from this is a call for Stormont to be restored as a means to bring about some improvement.\u00a0 This is a call that is made unambiguously and unconditionally by the trade unions. It is also a call that is made by the left groups (albeit dressed up in rhetoric about fighting austerity or securing civil rights). The underlying assumptions here are that the political institutions brought into existence by the Good Friday Agreement (GFA) can shield the working class to some degree or even be a vehicle for reforms.<\/p>\n

The problem is that such assumptions about the governmental structures in the north are without foundation.\u00a0 The Stormont Executive and Assembly \u2013 throughout the period of their existence \u2013 had a very poor record on public services , extending rights or\u00a0 countering sectarianism.\u00a0 As the devolved institutions matured they actually got worse and at the time of their collapse had become a by word for incompetence, corruption, sectarian patronage and austerity.\u00a0 Indeed, it was this decay (highlighted by the Renewable Heat Incentive \u00a0scandal – ‘Cash for Ash’) \u00a0that provoked the revolt in Sinn Fein\u2019s support base that forced the party to pull out of the Executive and bring down the institutions.\u00a0 The proposition that a restoration of Stormont will improve conditions for people in the north is fanciful.<\/p>\n

Equally as fanciful is the claim that there is no government in the northern state.\u00a0 Local politicians may be out of office but the most important organs of the state \u2013 the civil service, police, courts etc – continue to function.\u00a0\u00a0 As in any other capitalist society there is an apparatus of class rule that continues to operate irrespective of what party is in government or even if there is a government at all.\u00a0 The critical point to be made in relation to Northern Ireland is that there certainly is a government that is exercising authority – and that is the British government.\u00a0 While it may not be direct rule in its full form it is still rule by Britain.\u00a0 While the local civil service may be one step removed from London it is there that its political direction is being set.<\/p>\n

As time progresses the guiding hand of the British government becomes more visible as it takes on greater powers and responsibilities.\u00a0\u00a0 The most recent example of this is the unveiling of an annual budget for Stormont by the Secretary of State (SoS).\u00a0 This is the third such annual budget that has been introduced at Westminster since the collapse of the local institutions.\u00a0 The actual legal basis for such interventions is dubious with the legislation allowing for this only being passed last October.\u00a0 Under its provisions civil servants are permitted to make decisions in the \u201cpublic interest\u201d and under guidelines set by the SoS.\u00a0\u00a0 The legislation included a talks timetable for the restoration of devolution running from January to March and allowing an extension to August after which an election must be called.\u00a0 Of course this falls completely outside of the terms of the GFA – demonstrating the degree to which the British government can make things up as it goes along and also retrospectively justify any decision it has taken in the past.\u00a0 For all of the talk (particularly around Brexit) about the GFA being an internationally recognised treaty experience has shown that any of its provisions be overturned at Westminster and that Britain as a state is not bound by it in any way.<\/p>\n

In terms of substance the budget introduced by the SoS carries on the policies of austerity.\u00a0 In cash terms it is around \u00a311.bn which is similar to previous years – but when inflation and demand pressures are taken into account it represents further financial tightening.\u00a0\u00a0 For example, the health service is set for a 6% cash increase, but when inflation is factored in the uplift equates to around 2% in real terms.\u00a0 Meanwhile education gets a 3.2% boost – but that works out at a 0.7% cut when inflation and this year’s in-year spending is factored.\u00a0 Overall, the budget falls far short of the coast projection of \u00a311.9bn that is needed to fund public services.\u00a0 This is despite the additional \u00a3140m this year from the Treasury\u00a0 as part of the DUP\u2019s supply an confidence deal.\u00a0 Indeed, as most of the \u00a31bn of that deal falls outside regular departmental budgets\u00a0 – and is ring-fenced for infrastructure projects – its impact on the day to day running of public services has been limited.\u00a0 Also underpinning the budget is an assumption that \u00a3320m of efficiency saving can be found –\u00a0 most of this is focused on the health service and the implementation of the privatisation policies\u00a0 in the Bengoa Report.\u00a0\u00a0 The budget also raises rates with\u00a0 domestic rates set to rise by almost 5% and business rates by just under 2%.\u00a0\u00a0 Overall, what the budget\u00a0 signals is not just a continuation of austerity but also an extension of control by the British government over taxation and spending in the north.<\/p>\n

It is not just financial matters on which Westminster has intervened.\u00a0\u00a0 The SoS has also made extensive use of the power of appointment contained in recent legislation.\u00a0\u00a0 Used initially to reconstitute the Policing Board this has extended to cover the appointments of the attorney general, senior police officers,\u00a0 members of the Probation Board and the post of Police Ombudsman.\u00a0 The power to appoint members of the Judicial Appointments Commission \u2013 the body which appoints judges \u2013 has already been transferred to the Lord Chancellor in London.\u00a0 This is not confined to the policing\/judicial field but across the public sector.\u00a0 The SoS has now taken\u00a0 the power to appoint a member of the Victims\u2019 Commission, a member or chair of the Livestock and Meat Commission or a member, chair or vice-chair of the Housing Executive.<\/p>\n

The role of British government in the north will expand greatly in any post Brexit scenario in which a large amount of new legislation, regulations and government orders which will become necessary.\u00a0 It has been reported in the Irish Times<\/em> that in such a scenario direct rule in its fullest form would be introduced.\u00a0\u00a0 According to same report the Irish government is viewing\u00a0 such a development as \u201c an administrative necessity rather than a political move\u201d.<\/p>\n

This response really shows the weakness and complicity of the Irish ruling elite in regards\u00a0 to the north.\u00a0 Despite the earlier rhetoric about a return to direct rule being unacceptable and not allowing people to lose out\u00a0 under Brexit this is exactly what is coming to pass.\u00a0\u00a0 The reintroduction of direct rule would be of huge political significance – marking the formal end of the Good Friday Agreement process after many years of decay.\u00a0 This would be a new situation in which any pretence of neutrality on the part of Britain or any attempt at power sharing will have been completely abandoned.\u00a0 This will have the support of the majority of unionists who have moved decisively against devolution and in favour of direct rule.\u00a0 Indeed, the immediate introduction of direct rule is now the main demand\u00a0 from all the unionist parties.<\/p>\n

Brexit (particularly a no-deal Brexit) will reinforce this by creating economic barriers and divergence between north and south.\u00a0 Rather than the border being blurred out\u00a0 by European integration it will now become increasing visible.\u00a0 All the nationalist assumptions about how the peace process would developed have been completely overturned.\u00a0 The latest grasping of straws – that somehow Brexit will boost nationalist sentiment and hasten a united Ireland – is likely to prove as illusory.\u00a0\u00a0 All of this – which is reflected in the muted response of Sinn Fein to the moves towards direct rule – points to the broader weakness of Irish nationalism and its inability to challenge the power of Britain and its unionist allies.<\/p>\n

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8.3.19<\/strong><\/p>\n

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This article was first posted at:-<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.socialistdemocracy.org\/RecentArticles\/RecentBritishGovernmentExpandsPowersInTheNorth.html<\/p>\n

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_________________<\/p>\n

also see:-<\/p>\n

http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/2019\/02\/19\/brexitandwhatitmeansforireland\/<\/a><\/p>\n

http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/2019\/01\/22\/failing-governments-in-ireland-south-and-north\/<\/a> –<\/p>\n

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The following article from Socialist Democracy (Ireland) highlights the impact of the reactionary unionism in Northern Ireland. \u00a0The Good Friday Agreement, \u00a0with its official \u00a0recognition of Unionists and Nationalists in a reformed Stormont, acted as liberal mask for the continued sectarian order in Northern Ireland. This placed the UK government in the position of ‘neutral’…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1843,1867,1873,1846,1876],"tags":[6528],"class_list":["post-12992","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-how-capitalists-organise","category-emancipation-liberation-and-self-determination","category-against-unionism","category-british-imperialism","category-ireland-against-unionism","tag-author-socialist-democracy-ireland"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"views":2201,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12992","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12992"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12992\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13464,"href":"http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12992\/revisions\/13464"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12992"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12992"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12992"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}