The Labour Party in Norn Iron……they havent gone away you know.

They are holding their annual conference (no seriously dont laugh!) in a South Belfast hotel tomorrow.

For years the British Labour Party never organised in Norn Iron. The Party’s default position was pro-Irish unity not least because of the large numbers of Irish people living in England. It was also a matter of principle.

It is a matter of “franchise”. The British Labour Party is a member of Socialist International. So is the Irish Labour Party in the Republic of Ireland. And so is the SDLP based in Norn Iron……but advocates of Irish Unity.

Where exactly does this leave “lefties” who are…..unionist? Well……basically it leaves them out in the cold. The pro-Union parties (UUP and DUP) are to the right of the British Conservative Party. The socialist parties (SDLP and Sinn Féin) are pro-Irish Unity.

Belfast’s socialists from….basically the Protestant community……satisfy themselves by working thru trade unions, phoning the SDLP to get help on issues of workers rights……….but will not lift a finger to help the SDLP. They also sit around in bars in Belfast’s trendy Cathedral Quarter……petitioning even demanding that the Labour Party in Britain ……….organise “in this part of the United Kingdom”.

Kate Hoey, a British Labour MP was born in Norn Iron. She is pro-union and she and other Labour types like Nick Rainsford have been advocating that Labour organise here. But basicaly Labour in London could not be bothered.

Essentially the British Labour Party is a coalition. The needs and aspirations of Labour voters in heartlands like Yorkshire and south Lancashire are very different from those in west of Scotland heartlands. And the London metropolitan socialist is very different again. And of course Norn Iron is unique.

So in South Belfast tomorrow, advocates of a non-sectarian (British) Labour Party will gather and lament that they are not taken seriously in London. But there is no such thing as “value free” Labour. A “non-sectarian” NI Labour Party is in fact a unionist Party.

The Labour Party………within England, Scotland and Wales is also pro-union. That is NOT sectarian. The Irish Labour Party is quite properly pro-repbublican. In other words both the British and Irish Labour Parties are…….nationalist (British or Irish).

So the SDLP is nationalist (Irish). Big deal. The NI Labour Party is also just as nationalist (British). Get over it.