I am announcing today my decision to leave the Labour Party
with immediate effect.
On a personal level, this has been a difficult decision. I
have been an active member of the party for most of my adult life and given more
than ten years service as an activist, officer and, most recently, public
representative. In that time I recruited and worked closely with a large number
of new members, some of whom have left the party, and others of whom I will
leave behind. I have worked in a progressive Labour group on South Dublin
County Council and have enjoyed campaigning with many decent activists and
representatives over the years.
However, on a political level, it has been clear to me for
some time that the Labour Party is no longer for me, nor am I for the Labour
Party. Over the last ten years I have done my best to advocate for policies and
ideas rooted in the values of the left which brought me into politics. Over the
last three, I have been dismayed at the failure of Labour in Government to advance
these values and ideas, and am equally concerned at the long-term outlook for
these politics in the party.
There is no one individual policy on which I am making a
stand; there have been dozens over the lifetime of the Government with which I
fundamentally disagree. Labour has kowtowed to Fine Gael’s economic agenda,
presided over cuts across the public sector which worst affect those who are
vulnerable, and implemented a series of demonstrably regressive budgets.
I have spoken with many local people who voted for me in
2009, or for Labour in the general election, who feel utterly sickened by
Labour’s implementation of the austerity agenda. Their views match my own. I stand diametrically opposed to government
policy – and by extension that of the Labour Party – in areas as diverse as
healthcare, local democracy, housing, state assets and taxation.
I believe that Labour has abandoned even the most basic of
social democratic concerns in Government, and my decision to leave is based as
much on the direction in which the party is headed as on its record in
Government.
While I and others have argued for a change in direction, it
is clear these arguments – even when made successfully via structures such as
party conference – have had little effect. In my experience, Labour is
controlled in effect by a democratic centralism which ensures power in the
party is concentrated in the hands of a small few.
One can only rail against the inevitable for so long; in my
own case, I have no distance left to run in the Party. Instead, I will be
looking to continue a track record as a principled and hard-working Councillor by
seeking election in May as an independent candidate in the
“Templeogue-Terenure” Local Electoral Area. I will not be joining any other
parties or groupings but hope in the future to play a constructive role in
working with others on the left at local and national level.
