Paul Murphy Opposes Sanctions, Warns on NATO Expansion
Paul Murphy spoke on 29 June 2022 opposing a motion to strengthen sanctions against Russia and defending the socialist left's record of opposing both Putin's regime and the Russian invasion of Ukraine. He argued sanctions are a form of economic and financial war that punish ordinary people, and called instead for increased humanitarian aid, debt relief for Ukraine and measures to target oligarchs.
Opposition to the sanctions motion
Paul Murphy told the Dáil that he and the socialist left oppose the motion because they oppose sanctions on Russia. He stressed this is not because they are soft on Putin, citing historic left criticism of atrocities in Chechnya and Russian actions in Kazakhstan, and expressing solidarity with anti-war protesters in Russia.
Sanctions as economic and financial war
Murphy described sanctions as an instrument of "total economic and financial war" and argued they mainly hurt ordinary people, citing estimates that poverty in Russia may be doubling or trebling. He linked sanctions to the domestic cost-of-living crisis and cited independent polling from Levada showing increased support for Putin amid confrontation with the West.
Alternative measures proposed
He urged concrete measures to help Ukraine and pressure elites - increasing humanitarian aid, calling for the cancellation of Ukrainian debt (which he said would take up about 12% of total state expenditure), and closing the shadow banking networks used by Russian and other oligarchs to hit them directly.
Concerns about NATO and Irish neutrality
Murphy criticised the Taoiseach for attending a NATO conference, warning the Irish establishment is using the conflict to move Ireland closer to NATO and undermine neutrality. He cited the trilateral memorandum between Turkey, Sweden and Finland as evidence - saying NATO's terms included lifting an arms embargo on Turkey, handing over Kurdish activists and agreeing not to support the YPG, and argued this exposed NATO as serving authoritarian leaders and US imperial interests rather than human rights.
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The purpose of this motion is to strengthen sanctions against Russia and we're opposed to it for that reason because we're against the sanctions on Russia. It isn't because People Before Profit or the genuine socialist left is in any way soft on Putin, on his gangster regime or on his crimes which are being committed against Ukrainian people. In fact we're the ones that have been consistent. When Chechens were being massacred, when Grozny was being raised, it was the socialist left that spoke out against it. While Tony Blair welcomed him with a red carpet, Bertie O'Hearn was shaking his hand. Or at the start of this year, who spoke out about Russian forces in Kazakhstan there to intimidate a workers uprising? It was the socialist left, there was nothing from the government. Or who's on the streets today in Russia protesting against the war? To quote one of Putin's allies in the Duma, he described the anti-war protesters as, quote, leftist and Trotskyist scum. In other words, the comrades of the socialist left. Of course there are much more than the organised left on the streets. But we've been consistent in terms of defending democratic rights of ordinary people in Russia and opposing the disgusting and dictatorial regime of Putin. And we are also consistent in condemning and opposing the imperialist invasion by Russia of Ukraine and standing on the side of the Ukrainian people. But we don't close our eyes to the expansionism of NATO. We don't close our eyes to the 800km eastward expansion since the collapse of the Berlin Wall. We don't close our eyes to the fact that the number of troops under direct NATO control in Eastern Europe has gone from 4,000 in October of last year to over 40,000 now. We don't close our eyes to the tens of billions of dollars that are being poured in, not to protect the interests of ordinary Ukrainian people, but to serve the interests of Western capital. And the truth is that sanctions are an instrument of, to quote the French finance minister, total economic and financial war. The people who are hurt by sanctions are not Putin and the coterie of oligarchs around them, it's ordinary people. It's estimated, it's estimated that the poverty rate in Russia is doubling or trebling as a consequence. These aren't people who are responsible for the war, they have no act or part in the war, but they are the ones who are being punished. It's people in this country who are being punished, in terms of the cost of living crisis that we are suffering, partly as a consequence. And we have now had these unprecedented sanctions for months. Have they worked? The polls suggest from Russia, from independent opinion poll companies, a poll by Levada declared a foreign agent in Russia, that the confrontation with the West has consolidated people. People believe that everyone is against us, Putin defends us, otherwise we would be eaten alive. Putin's ratings have gone up. Why? Because he's able to use the sanctions to say it's the world is against us. The anti-war protesters in Russia, who we stand with, they're fifth columnist agents of the West and so on. So even in their own terms, they haven't been successful. Why don't we do things that would actually make a difference for Ukrainian people? Why don't we increase the amount of humanitarian aid? Why don't we lead the way in calling for the dropping of Ukrainian debt, which would take up 12% of total state expenditure? Why don't we shut down the shadow banking system used by the Russian oligarchs and the American oligarchs and others in this country and hit the oligarchs where it hurts? Right now, Michal Martin is on the way, or there in Madrid, at a NATO conference to attend a dinner. What on earth is the Taoiseach of a supposedly neutral country doing attending a NATO conference? The truth is that the Irish establishment is looking to use this conflict to sidle Ireland up even closer and closer to NATO and to undermine what is left of neutrality. If people want to see the reality of what NATO is, look at the trilateral memorandum signed by Turkey, Sweden and Finland yesterday as the price of entry to NATO. The price of entry to NATO is for them to get rid of the arms embargo against Turkey. It is to hand over, already today, it seems they are handing over ten Kurdish activists to the Turkish authorities. They may well be tortured, they will be imprisoned without trial probably for a very long time. To agree not to give any support whatsoever to the YPG. These are the heroic women fighters who fought against the Islamic State. That is the price of entry to NATO. That should tell you something, that NATO is not a force for democracy or human rights or good in the world. It is a force for people like Erdogan, another authoritarian ruler. And it is a force in the interests of US imperialism in particular. Thank you.
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