Labour rallies troops as it begins fightback

As Labour prepares to hold its annual conference, deputy leader Alan Kelly says what makes the party different is that its vision is grounded in realism and in achievement

The Labour Party must come out fighting more. As our party conference kicks off this evening, there is no better time for the party to assert itself and step away from the persistent narrative that this country is a failure.

Throughout its history, Labour has stepped in and not been afraid to take responsibility in order to see the country right. Every time Labour has entered power, we have delivered back to the people a much better and fairer country than we inherited. With an election due next year, we as a people, have made too many sacrifices to throw away our economic potential and risk it on those who have never accepted or never intended to accept the responsibilities of office.

Over the last four years, we have perhaps been more focused on the job than the message. While helping to deliver the fastest growing economy in the EU and aggressively investing more than ever before in both housing and education, we should not be shy about pointing to our achievements.

The one constant of politics is there will always be critics. But in politics, as in life, you have to carve out, create and sell your own narrative. That is the challenge for Labour for the rest of 2015 — to move away from the opposition’s (and possibly some media’s) addiction to the politics of failure and to articulate a vision of Ireland out to 2020 based on work, based on increased living standards, based on community empowerment and a sense that we are all in this together, we all have something to contribute and we all can share the benefits of wealth.

What will make 2015 different is that the narrative of this being a failed state will dissipate. The political challenge is no longer to establish an Irish economic recovery, it is to make sure it is spread evenly and fairly throughout the country and that the benefits are felt by people in their communities. That seemed impossible in 2011 but is part of the new dynamic in 2015 where the live register is falling at rates not seen since the Celtic Tiger. It is within this dynamic that Labour will establish its narrative.

What makes Labour different is that our vision is grounded in realism and in achievement. You don’t raise living standards by spending money you don’t have or by spending money you simply can’t afford to borrow. Just look at Greece, where many on the so-called Irish Left wish we were more like, if you don’t build a society on economic credibility, it will simply unravel.

So let’s examine some of the opposition’s proposals. Let’s take Sinn Féin’s most recent housing policies from their pre-budget submission. They did not include a single cent for either homelessness services (which Labour increased by 20%) or housing adaptations for those with disabilities (€40m for 2015).

Now let us just think about that, when it actually comes to putting forward something real and tangible — their so-called social conscience allowed them to forget about both the homeless and the disabled. Yes, they forgot about both the homeless and the disabled, when it actually mattered. What kind of a social conscience is that? Not one that Labour would ever want to be aligned with.

The vision of a fair society can only be built on realistic economic policies as opposed to the populist economics where everybody gets everything they want for free and nobody has to pay for anything. There is an onus on us all to contribute to society in some way.

Whereas the Labour Party believes in empowering people through work, the so-called ‘Left’ believe in empowering people by promoting a sense of failure and hopelessness, equally matched by false utopian promises where they present themselves as the only people capable of leading some fictional revolution where everything is free. The most selfish type of politics practised is done by those who rail against the system, yet are afraid of the responsibility that goes with having a mandate.

That is what makes Labour different. We aim to empower people through work, through protecting social services and managing the country’s economy prudently. We believe in providing homes for those who can’t afford them and clean drinking water for our children.

Not one member of the so-called ‘Left’ has produced a single policy proposal that will take anybody off the housing list or ensure that we will have clean water in our taps in 10 years’ time. The choice people will have is between those whose only ability is to articulate anger or those who are bringing about a recovery.

And just to shatter the perception that Labour has not protected people — in Ireland today, over 40% of the population is eligible for a medical card, everyone over 66 remains eligible for free public transport and over €500m a year is spent supporting people through rented accommodation in various forms.

Protecting these measures throughout the recent crisis wasn’t easy, but was necessary. We have demonstrated the capability of running a country through a difficult period. Also, if you examine the performance of the Labour ministers throughout this government, they are the ones who have steadied the ship the most.

We want to continue to work in government delivering results for the Irish people. Opponents and commentators may delight in writing us off. That will not happen.

This evening, and throughout the weekend of our conference in Killarney, Labour is beginning the fightback. A fightback that will ensure we get the opportunity in the next general election to finish the job we have started so well.

Alan Kelly is the environment minister and deputy leader of the Labour Party.