Socialism 2010: Joe Higgins (1)

Socialism 2010: Joe Higgins (1)


Part 1: Socialism 2010, hosted by the Socialist Party. Sunday rally: Joe Higgins, Firebrand from the Irish Socialist Party and Member of the European Parliament: The final contribution was a rousing contribution from Irish Socialist Party MEP Joe Higgins. Joe remarked that in the Irish Republic the economic situation "is not simply a crisis but one of an absolute disaster". The Irish government's 7 December budget will be savage in the intensity of its cuts in workers' living standards. Next year the government is proposing to cut spending and increase taxes on the population to the tune of €60 billion. The health service will be decimated, tuition fees will rocket, and there will be deeper cutbacks in public sector workers' living standards. Meanwhile the massive bailout of banks and financial speculators continues. "We will not pay this bill. The Irish working class didn't create this crisis, we won't pay a cent to the dictatorship of finance capital," said Joe. This economic crisis is giving rise to a new political crisis. The governing coalition of Fianna Fail and the Greens will be annihilated at the next general election. However, the Labour Party also accepts the dictats of capitalism. We need a workers' alternative, said Joe. The Socialist Party will contest a number of seats in the next election as part of a wider united left alliance. Joe condemned the utter capitulation of the trade union leaders to the government's austerity programme. Public sector workers ...