The above title is not so much a joke as a quote from a Labour Party conference speech by Anne Ferris, TD – at least according to an Irish Times article mostly about how Ms Ferris could wallpaper a room with her hate mail. On second thoughts, maybe it is a joke.

By the way, most people who campaign on controversial issues could wallpaper their houses with the hate mail and vicious comments they receive. On some issues feelings run strong, and the debate tends to get heated. We just have to try not to be so thin skinned about it.

But back to the issue at hand, neither of the words “moral” nor “backbone” fit well with the Labour Party.

If the concept of morality still has any meaning, then presenting Labour as a model of it is beyond satire.

Not only did the Labour Party support all the socially harmful and morally objectionable legislative proposals of the coalition government, but in many cases it was the source of them.

Labour policies are still rooted in socialism – an ideology that has been condemned by the Church because, among other reasons, it explicitly rejects the idea of an objective moral order.

The party’s policy on Catholic patronage of schools is an example of this. The Church teaches that there is an objective moral law; that we are obliged to obey it; and that there are negative consequences for ignoring it. And Labour tries to prevent, to the maximum extent possible, that moral law from being taught to school children.

If the crime rates are high today, imagine what they will be like after another generation reared on the socialist idea of morality.

Socialism itself is morally bankrupt. It is a statist ideology, favouring state control in all areas of life, and undermining individual moral responsibility.

So it was natural for the Labour Party to support the so called Children’s Rights referendum, through which the state extended its reach into the private life of the family.

Was it moral for the government to steal €1.1 million of public monies to advocate for one side in that referendum? At least one Labour party minister was peeved that the Supreme Court found against the misuse of these public funds.

Does anyone really consider legalisation of abortion to be the moral solution to crisis pregnancy? Pragmatic maybe, but moral – definitely not! Redefining marriage – and at the same time redefining equality – is another example of Labour Party moral philosophy at work.

And here are some more: taxing the homes of people struggling to pay a mortgage and make ends meet; bailing out wealthy but imprudent investors and making future generations pay the price;
spending vast amounts of money they don’t own in order to build their socialist dream;… the list could go on.

So much for morality and the Labour Party… what about backbone?

The term backbone is usually attributed to people or parties for displaying courage. What courage did it take for Labour to promote its leftist and immoral ideology? Did they have to face condemnation and harassment from international bodies? Did they have to face tremendous opposition from the media?

Perhaps it would have been more accurate for Ms Ferris to have stated: “The Labour Party is the ideological driving force behind this spineless coalition government.”