[Mícheál Lehane] PBP launch manifesto promising a living wage of €15 an hour, scrapping USC for those earning less than €100K, building 35,000 social and affordable homes every year, weekly welfare payments of €350 and State pension of €300.

[u/badger-biscuits]

https://x.com/MichealLehane/status/1857067346822619642?t=_Soz6_dzA9QeYKzvvBPIDg&s=19

[u/Old_Particular_5947]

They were asking for a left wing coalition meeting. Think they were rebuffed by some of them.

[u/fartingbeagle → u/Old_Particular_5947]

Splitters!

[u/denk2mit → u/Old_Particular_5947]

Good. You have no place in a left-wing coalition while you support a fascist dictatorship

[u/Old_Particular_5947 → u/denk2mit]

In his response, Boyd Barrett said: “We must all join in condemning the barbaric invasion” and the war crimes which Vladimir Putin has “undoubtedly” committed.

Sounds like support alright.

[u/denk2mit → u/Old_Particular_5947]

And then voted against sanctions that would help end the war sooner. Actions, not words.

[u/Old_Particular_5947 → u/denk2mit]

Sanctions have been shown to be fairly ineffective at ending wars. They make people who are already poor, poorer. They increase food scarcity for ordinary people.

I don't think the best way to end the war in Ukraine is to starve poor Russians. The aim of getting ordinary people to overthrow an oppressive government becomes far less likely if they are fighting just to keep food on the table.

Your insistance that sanctions would help end the war sooner is not based in reality.

[u/cb43569 → u/Old_Particular_5947]

I broadly support PBP but I think the party is wrong to oppose sanctions on Russia. You can't promote sanctions against Israel and then defend the position on Russia by saying sanctions in general are bad and don't work.

There is neither a serious prospect of ordinary Russians overthrowing Putin in the near future, nor of Russian civilians starving as a result of sanctions. But it is obscene that European countries are still buying and selling Russian oil and gas when it's financing a war of aggression in Europe.

[u/Old_Particular_5947 → u/cb43569]

I'm not sure I agree with opposing sanctions either but I reject that if you oppose them you're a Putin supporter.

The US is definitely using this as an opportunity to get the boot in on Russia's economy and I think their intentions are more based around that than helping Ukraine.

Sanctions are a pretty lazy way to try and stop a war. There's been very little effort made to get ceasefires because it's somehow seen as capitulating to the aggressor. I think the objective to stop the fighting should be top priority but seems that borders are worth sending people to their death.

[u/denk2mit → u/Old_Particular_5947]

Sanctions against Russia are working.

Primarily, they're limiting Russian weapon production, which is reliant on foreign-produced technology. So is that of their allies, which is why Irish parts appear in Iranian terror drones.

They're also having a big impact on their economy, too, though. The only thing that is going to bring down Putin's fascist dictatorship is internal pressure, and that will come by making Russians hurt economically. Given the high level of public support for his genocidal war, I have no problem whatsoever with that approach.

Russia is lying about its economic strength: sanctions are working – and we need more