Reject the welfare cuts

Cuts announced this month by the British government Minister Rachel Reeves are set to push thousands of people in the north of Ireland into poverty and have been opposed across the political spectrum. The following is an analysis by Saoradh of their campaign to oppose the cuts and halt the implementation in the Six Counties of a capitalist British agenda.

The proposed welfare cuts are not just an attack on the most vulnerable—they are an outright declaration of class war by the British state and the capitalist system it upholds. These cuts are not about balancing budgets or economic necessity; they are about punishing the poor, crushing working-class communities, and deepening the divide between the wealthy elite and the rest of us.

For too long, the working people have been strangled by austerity, poverty wages, and the deliberate neglect of essential services. While corporate profiteers and landlords hoard wealth, families are left to struggle with rising costs, deteriorating healthcare, and the daily battle to survive. These cuts will push even more people into destitution, while Stormont’s politicians act as loyal managers of British rule rather than defenders of our people.

We do not recognise the right of any British government or puppet assembly to dictate our lives or strip away the basic means of survival. Welfare is not a privilege—it is a right. No Irish person should have to beg for dignity in their own land while wealth is stolen from our communities and handed to the rich.

For decades, partition and capitalism have left workers struggling under a system that serves the elite while forcing ordinary people into poverty. The British government and their puppet Stormont establishment are content to manage the misery of our people rather than challenge the economic system that creates it.

Our message is clear: these cuts can be resisted by mass mobilisation of workers, trade unions, and communities to shut down any attempt to implement austerity.

There needs to be an end to British-imposed economic policies that serve only the interests of capitalists and landlords with a complete rejection of Stormont’s failed institutions, which do nothing but manage our oppression.

The solution is a 32-county socialist republic, where the wealth of Ireland serves the people of Ireland—not foreign interests, not the banks, and not the corrupt ruling class.

An Irish Socialist Republic would reject these cuts entirely and instead fight for a welfare system based on social solidarity, economic justice, and the right of all people to live with dignity.

We urge all workers, trade unions, community organisations, and republicans to mobilise against these cuts. Our rights and dignity are not up for negotiation. The only way forward is through collective resistance and the building of an Ireland free from exploitation and oppression.

This is not just a fight against welfare cuts—it is a fight for the very future of our class and our nation. There is no compromise, no reform, and no solution within this broken system.

We must stand together, rise up, and take back what is rightfully ours. The struggle continues, and victory will only come through Revolutionary change.

Urgent Appeal