How history repeats itself – ironically, if not farcically. More than 100 years ago, the Irish Parliamentary Party held the balance of power at Westminster, forcing prime minister HH Asquith’s hand on Home Rule for Ireland.
And now, in an almost comedic re-run, an Irish political party – the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) – holds the balance of power at Westminster, and will force Prime Minister Theresa May’s hand to follow their agenda.
Back in the 1900s, there was a certain amount of patronising attitudes, if not outright sneering, at the Irish MPs for their provincial ways (although the House missed their eloquence and wit once they departed, after 1918).
A hundred years later, there’s a similar level of patronising and sometimes snooty London attitudes to the 10 Ulster MPs, for their “social conservatism” – which is code for “provincial and backward”.
On BBC One on Sunday morning, politicians and commentators – including Sir Michael Fallon – very quickly distanced themselves, or even expressed alarm, at the DUP’s “social conservatism”, especially around the issues of gay rights and abortion. In Scotland, the successful Ruth Davidson had given the lead by tweeting a warning against the DUP’s “socially conservative” attitudes.
Everyone seemed quick to say that they couldn’t possibly agree with what Andrew Neil called “working-class Protestants with old-fashioned values”. The BBC’s assistant political editor Norman Smith suggested, on Radio 4, that the DUP’s biblical profile could “re-toxify” the Conservative party.
I was surprised that not a single politician or political commentator pointed out that abortion and gay rights are issues of conscience at Westminster. If Arlene Foster’s DUP have “old-fashioned Protestant working-class values”, they are entitled to them.
But as the sagacious Peter Hitchens has written, the Conservative Party is not a party of principle or conscience: it is a party of power, and that’s the name of the game. Well, the DUP and their old-fashioned Protestant values have the power now – just as the Irish Parliamentary Party had in 1910. And I believe they will use their power responsibly. They are sensible on the question of the Irish border and want a “soft Brexit” arrangement. They want to protect pensioners and the winter fuel arrangement. They want investment in schools and hospitals. All to the good.
I regret that the moderate nationalist SDLP in Northern Ireland was wiped out in the general election – replaced by Sinn Fein, whose members abstain from Westminster. Yet, what a trick of irony history has played! Where an Irish national party once held the balance of power, now an Irish unionist party is repeating the scenario. What larks!
……..
I have only watched one episode of The Handmaid’s Tale, a dystopian science fiction drama currently showing each Sunday on Channel 4 – and one was quite enough, thank you. It’s a horrible and sometimes violent story, written by the Canadian feminist Margaret Atwood in the 1980s, when it was interpreted as a metaphor for Ronald Reagan’s regime and the alleged “war against women”.
It has been called, aptly, a liberal fantasy about what could happen under a fundamentalist pro-natalist Christian administration – women held in subjection, forced to bear children by authoritarian men, and in one episode, subjected to genital mutilation.
Actually, women held in harem-type circumstances could be said to mirror certain Islamic fundamentalist regimes, and even some African cultures where FGM is practised (Jomo Kenyatta of Kenya praises female genital cutting in his autobiography Facing Mount Kenya). But Atwood chose to pillory Reagan’s America: you don’t want to be accused of racism by picking on developing societies, but “right-wing” American regimes are easy candidates for dystopias.
……..
My mother used to talk about the bonfires of St John’s Eve in her childhood. This was the night of June 23, marking the birthday of St John the Baptist on June 24. It seems to have been a meaningful Christian feast day in the past, and it is mentioned in Shakespeare. But now it is more associated with Scandinavia – notably Denmark – than anywhere in Britain or Ireland.
It is, obviously, the apex of midsummer, and the solstice that derives from pagan times. And in Britain, June 23 has taken on a new significance – being the day the country voted for Brexit.
Areas of Catholic Herald business are still recovering post-pandemic.
However, we are reaching out to the Catholic community and readership, that has been so loyal to the Catholic Herald. Please join us on our 135 year mission by supporting us.
We are raising £250,000 to safeguard the Herald as a world-leading voice in Catholic journalism and teaching.
We have been a bold and influential voice in the church since 1888, standing up for traditional Catholic culture and values. Please consider donating.