Sinn Fein and Democratic
Unionist Party change position to supporting water charging now elections are
over.
Over 800 people took part in the
anti-water charges demonstration in
Indeed, earlier in the week, at a meeting
of the Coalition against Water Charges, some of the trade union leaders had
suggested calling the demonstration off, arguing that only a couple of hundred
would turn up.
The attendance of many hundreds of
activists from working class communities was mainly down to the work of the We
Won’t Pay Campaign in building for the demo. This was reflected on the day
itself with by far the largest and liveliest contingent marching behind the We
Won’t Pay banners. The march from start to end was a
Platform speakers included Glasgow
Solidarity MSP, Tommy Sheridan, Dublin Socialist Party TD, Joe Higgins and Pat Lawlor, a UNISON convenor in the
The main message from the platform, and
especially from these three speakers, was that it was the threat of mass
non-payment that had forced the government and the local parties to put the
charges back. But a delay is only a partial victory. The other clear message
was that we can’t trust any of the local politicians. If they can get away with
it, they will introduce the charges next year. But if non-payment can defeat
them this year it can defeat them next year as well.
This message was repeated at an excellent
Socialist Party meeting of 50 people held immediately after the demonstration.
The need for the working class to develop a political voice so that we can have
representatives like Tommy Sheridan and Joe Higgins to challenge the local
parties in a future Assembly was also spelt out.
As it turns out the warnings about the
politicians have proved very timely. Two days after the demonstration the four main
parties met to divvy out the spoils of ministerial office. In a dry run for
what will happen on 8 May when the Assembly will be set up the parties
indicated which ministerial positions they would take.
Sinn Fein chose the poisoned chalice of
the Minister for Regional Development, the department that will be in charge of
the water service.
Generally we expect politicians to wait
until they get into power before they sell-out. Not Sinn Fein though! In their
election literature for the 7 March Assembly election Sinn Fein had deadlines
defiantly declaring: “A vote for Sinn Fein is a vote against water charges.”
On 2 April, just after announcing their
new ministerial team and their portfolios, one of the key Sinn Fein
spokespersons, Mitchel McLaughlin, in a television
interview said: “If we separate out the legacy cost and we set in front of the
people the legitimate cost of running and delivering a clean and healthy water
supply to people’s houses, people are fair minded – they will pay that.” His
comments were then echoed by a DUP spokesperson -
So, a month before the Assembly is due to
meet, the DUP and Sinn Fein have clearly set out their stall. They will bring
in water charges next year. They may make some concessions, packaging the
charges differently and starting them at a lower rate, hoping that this will
draw some of the unions as well as the professional “community” sector away
from their current support for non-payment.
The We Won’t Pay Campaign has already made
its position clear, issuing a statement condemning this u-turn by Sinn Fein and
the DUP. The mass opposition to water charges is because it is understood that
this is a double tax. People already pay for water through local taxation
(rates) and are not prepared to pay twice. It is also generally understood that
the real reason for the introduction of separate water bills is to prepare for
the privatisation of the water service.
Our response therefore to Mitchel McLaughlin and Sinn Fein will be – “people are fair
minded – We won’t pay that.”!
It looks like the work done this year to
prepare to resist the charges if the bills had gone out in April will be a
dress rehearsal for next year when the battle will be directly against Sinn
Fein’s new Minister for Water Charges.
Postscript: Since this article was written
Mitchel McLaughlin has issued a press statement
headed “We Won’t Pay Campaign gets it wrong again”. In it he says: “Firstly
politicians have no control over how television producers edit pre-recorded
interviews but I have to say that even in the interview referred to by Mr Mulcahy (Secretary We Won’t Pay Campaign) at no time did I
say that the Assembly would introduce water charges”.
What Mitchel McLaughin actually said is quoted above so readers can make
up their own minds whether the comment “people are fair minded – they will pay
that” signals a clear intent to bring in water charges or not.
Mitchel McLaughlin’s hasty response shows that how
sensitive Sinn Fein are on this issue and also the
impact mass non-payment would have on an Assembly.