Tories could be threat to everyone in Ireland
Posted By: July 18, 2016
An Irish commentator said on Friday that the contrasts between the Irish and British political systems couldn’t be more different at the moment. Britain has a new government but Ireland has the semblance of a government and while Ireland has an effective opposition the British parliament has a shambles of one. It’s a crude analysis but not that far from the truth.
The new British prime minister Theresa May has received a coronation while poor old Enda is wearing the Fine Gael crown of thorns. The taoiseach would be unwise to cling on to power as the precedents are not good for prime ministers who outstay their welcome.
His party colleagues are right to feel uneasy because it’s in Fianna Fáil’s interest to keep Enda in government buildings as close to the next election as possible. And Fianna Fáil will be the party determining when exactly that election is called.
It’s hard not to have sympathy for the Taoiseach but his fate looks eerily similar to David Cameron. Both men destroyed their coalition partners, both returned their unpopular parties to government and both have been subjected to significant carping from within their own parliamentary parties. Ironically Enda may be the next political casualty from Brexit as contagion across the Irish Sea seems inevitable.
But the real threat to everyone in Ireland –—north or south— could be the new Tory government. The new PM struck a conciliatory note in her first speech outside Number 10, so conciliatory in fact that it could have been made by Ed Miliband.
Yet it would be unwise to take it literally. One would hope that Mrs May is sincere in her desire to create a more equal and inclusive society but her voting record says otherwise. Mrs May is pleasant sounding but she is no bleeding heart liberal. Although he may not get the credit, David Cameron actually was a genuine social liberal. However, Mrs May is a new start and deserves the grace of a settling in period.
She is committed to bringing more women to the fore and that can only be for the good. Also, lets face it, who isn’t pleased that at last we have a politician under the age of 60 who hasn’t been written off by the so called generation X? May is a comparative spring chicken compared to Hillary Clinton.
Undoubtedly Mrs May will see her first job as healing the splits within her own party caused by the earthquake that was Brexit. Thus the return of the right wing caucus of David Davis and Liam Fox – neither of whom are heavyweights in political terms or intellectually. The real shocker coming from Mrs May’s handbag of goodies was the appointment of Boris Johnson as foreign secretary. Many distinguished politicians have held the post of foreign secretary – Boris Johnson is not one of them.
The clown prince of British politics now has a real job and his reckless talent for putting his silver loafer in his mouth will be stretched to the limit. His would-be nemesis and notorious political back stabber Michael Gove has been exiled to the back benches. And joining him is our own former grand dame – the secretary of state, Ms Villiers. God knows what job she was offered by Mrs May that she felt she “couldn’t take on”? What could be worse than the political Siberia known as Northern Ireland? The truth is that there’s not a nationalist politician in Ireland – north or south – who didn’t feel that Ms Villiers hadn’t compromised the impartiality of her Northern Ireland position over Brexit [ for which she campaigned]. Chipping Barnet is welcome to her cold charms.
Unsurprisingly as a Tory prime minister, Mrs May referred to her ‘unionist’ credentials in her first speech seemingly unaware that it was the unionists who unilaterally divorced themselves from the Conservative party. Most likely those remarks were more aimed at hugging our Celtic cousins in Scotland but local unionists will bathe in the reflected glory.
Though one suspects her open pride at supporting same sex marriage will enthuse them somewhat less. The fact that Mrs May said that it was her intention to cherish all citizens within the union equally will unnerve more than a few Unionists because, whether one agrees or not, a challenge to NI position on same-sex marriage and abortion to the supreme court is almost inevitable if equal rights are to be afforded throughout the UK.
At least we know Mrs May has a sense of humour – the new NIO boss is aptly called Brokenshire.
