CPB Workers of all lands, unite!
Unity!
Cp BriTAin Cp BriTAin www.communist-party.org.uk April 2020
Neo liberalism’s deadly damage to our defences
Global The struggle call on continues Covid-19
CORONAVIRUS CRISIS
Along with more than 230 political parties across the world, Britain’s Communist Party has signed an Open Letter on the COVID-19 crisis from the Communist Party of China. In an interview with China's Xinhua News Agency on 3 April, Communist Party general secretary Robert Griffiths said: ‘The Communist Party of Britain was pleased and honoured to associate itself with the Open Letter proposed by the Chinese Communist Party on the COVID-19 crisis. The letter not only expresses the full gravity of the current danger and expressed our profound appreciation of the work done by health workers and others in the front-line to combat this deadly virus. It sent our condolences to all victims of the virus and their family and friends. But also the Open Letter emphasises how vital it is that the world and its peoples and governments come together in cooperation to defeat the threat which COVID-19 presents to us all. The full text is at
UNIONS
en yeArs of neoliberal economic and financial policies have done deadly damage to our defences against health and other public emergencies, the Communist party has declared. reporting to an online meeting of the party's political Committee, general secretary robert Griffiths attacked the past ten years of spending cuts, tax relief for the rich and big business and the outsourcing and privatisation of public services. 'Almost every capitalist government is now compelled to use methods deployed so effectively by the Chinese authorities to counter the Covid-19 virus, based on state intervention, planning and control of essential industries and services', he said. ‘Tragically, in Britain as elsewhere, the capacity of the public sector and our public and emergency services to meet the coronavirus challenge has been severely weakened by the profit-driven, market obsessed policies of recent decades’. he pointed to the european union as a prime example of the result of economic and financial neoliberalism. ‘it was the eu Commission, european Central Bank and imF ‘Troika’ which demanded public spending cuts so deep that even italy’s right-wing government resisted and was replaced by an unelected regime headed by
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former eu top bureaucrats’, he reminded the political Committee. similar cuts had been demanded of spain, Greece, portugal, ireland and Cyprus. ‘not surprisingly, the italian government today has condemned the eu for failing to help the italian people in their desperate hour of need, while socialist Cuba and people's China are sending medical teams and supplies there to assist them’ he added. Turning back to Britain, the Communist party leader said the Tory government was still doing too little, too late to combat CoVid-19. ‘All necessary resources in the private-sector health, pharmaceutical, manufacturing and hotel sectors should already have been requisitioned to provide all the medical facilities, virus testing kits, safety equipment and accommodation for homeless people and victims of domestic violence needed in this crisis’, he insisted, naming hospitals where front-line staff were still short of respirators and other protective equipment and clothing. some of the world's biggest pharmaceutical companies are based in Britain, rob Griffiths pointed out, yet Cuba and China are leading the international effort to develop effective antiCoVid-19 vaccines and treatments. he also urged the labour movement to prepare for ‘huge battles ahead’ in the forthcoming recession, when a Tory government
will try to make the working class pay the bills for today's crisis measures. Britain’s Communists demanded that large workplaces not engaged in essential activities should close and applauded workers in Britain, ireland, the us and other countries who have taken industrial action to halt unsafe workplace practices. The Communist party’s political Committee also called upon Britain’s Tory government to extend its 80 per cent wage guarantee fully to all laid-off, contract and self-employed workers; test and release all non-infected non-violent prisoners; impose price controls on essential medical and food products; stop the roll-out of universal Credit; and ban house evictions during the current emergency. Westminster mps many of whom had opposed plans to limit their time by a few days to further delay or sabotage Brexit - were criticised for going into recess for a month when the Tory government's seizure of emergency powers requires proper democratic oversight and scrutiny. ‘one lesson that must be drawn from this crisis is that Britain's large military capacity has been useless to defend our people which is why a third of the military budget should in future be used to build a civilian emergency service with the trained personnel, equipment and materials that can be mobilised under democratic control to meet the storms, floods, forest fires and epidemics that lie ahead.
Protect the health and rights of the peoples Joint statement of the world’s communist and workers’ parties https://tinyurl.com/stghk79
make the bosses pay for the bailout CAPITALIST CRISIS
expenditure on healthcare, education, transport and the environment combined. The banking bailout has been followed by a decade of stateroB GriFFiThs imposed austerity in which working people eT us Be CLeAr, the CoVid-19 pandemic have suffered a pay freeze, and austerity cuts to is not to blame for yet another severe crisis recapitalise the banks. The trades unions, the people’s Assembly and of the capitalist system. For the second time other movements must prepare for mass in a generation we face a crisis caused by campaigning to defeat future Tory moves to corporate ownership of the economy and the make the working class pay for capitalism's lifeanarchy of market forces. sure, the impact of the coronavirus will make support treatment. The CoVid-19 crisis underlines the inability the recession all the deeper, but this is not the of capitalism – especially its privatised, freeprimary cause of a cyclical downturn which is exposing yet again the greed and corruption at market neoliberal model promoted by new Labour, the Tory right and the eu – to meet the heart of the British and international public health and environmental emergencies. financial system. Communists condemn the Tory According to official uK estimates and the latest analysis from the united nations Council government’s failure to plan much earlier to on Trade and development (unCTAd), bailing requisition production, distribution and resarch out private enterprise in Britain will cost at least and development facilities to ensure adequate supplies of protective equipment for front-line £350bn over the coming period. staff, ventilators, testing kits and intensive care That’s more than the annual public
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beds. many workers are being forced to risk their own and other people's lives by employers who continue to put profits before public health and safety. Britain’s Communists urge solidarity with workers refusing to work in breach of coronavirus regulations, and insist that trade unionism in the workplace is the best protection for workers exercising their lawful right to ‘stop the job’ in unsafe conditions. The Communist party repeat our call for a ban on home evictions during the current emergency, we demand the immediate payment of universal Credit, the release on licence of many more non-violent prisoners and an end to the shameful and inhumane embargos enforced by the us and its allies on material and financial aid to the peoples of iran, Cuba and Venezuela. roBerT GriFFiThs is GenerAL seCreTAry CommunisT pArTy
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Out now! With capitalism in crisis and its champions in disarray what better time could there be to launch an updated, indeed, up-to-the-minute, edition of the Communist Party’s programme Britain’s road to socialism is now available online. https://shop.communistparty.org. uk/?q=pamphlets/britains-roadsocialism
Andy BAin he CommunisT pArTy executive committee met at the weekend 4/5 April via the party’s own conference call system. The executive committee called for party members and organisations to step up their activities and that as much as possible party structures and bodies should meet virtually using conference software such as Zoom. The Communist party supports the lockdown measures to limit the spread of the disease and to take the pressure off the nhs. however, some Government actions and the behaviour of employers has threatened the livelihoods of many workers in different categories of employment and so-called self employment. The trade union movement is not sitting back and accepting these threats and there are many examples of workers and their trade unions organising resistance and winning victories. l examples include bonuses for supermarket workers who are facing longer hours and huge increases in customer spending l Wilko employees who stopped the company's plan to reduce sick pay l Construction sites’ rank and file protests on safe working l unite, unison and others providing helplines and fighting on many fronts l BAFWu joint actions to maintain pay in Wetherspoons and macdonalds l non TuC-unions organising new nonmedical staff in the nightingale hospitals The way the government has chosen to subsidise those who will lose out due to the virus is weighted in the main towards the better off and big business. many workers face £94/a week when off sick, many more will have to wait for five weeks for nothing more than universal Credit, the norm for large numbers will be a 20% cut in pay and many will lose their jobs. The Communist party and the young Communist League have issued statements analysing the situation and pointing to necessary actions, and party organisations should continue to meet and act. This may be as party branches, trade union advisories, trade union broad lefts, trade union branches, TuC regions and trades councils plus active involvement in the peoples Assembly. mayday is not far away and it is important that this Labour movement event is celebrated in some way. We know that in London there will be a major social media-generated event, as there will be in manchester and the peoples Assembly will be involved in other events around the country.
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Andy BAin is The CommunisT pArTy’s TrAde union orGAniser
CoVid-19 Communist party statement l The immediate formation of national and regional forums bringing together representatives of central and local government, health and medical bodies and trade unions and employers’ organisations to coordinate, plan and ensure the implementation of anti-crisis measures. l Building new intensive care hospitals and directing the medical, human and material - including medical resources of the private health sector and the armed forces into the struggle against Covid-19 and its effects. unless essential, military personnel should not be in formal military uniform. l The requisitioning of private sector technology and production of all equipment and materials needed by hospitals and medical centres, including respirators. l The urgent provision of protective eCAdes oF equipment, materials and specialist training to all capitalist globalisation and neoliberal medical and frontline staff dealing with diagnosed economic policies have left Britain and or prospective Covid-19 patients. many other countries in a far worse condition to l state direction of the pharmaceutical industry meet the challenge of a pandemic such as the in Britain, where two of the world's biggest Covid-19 crisis. corporations are based (GlaxosmithKline and in particular, the failure to rectify the deep AstraZeneca), to ensure that production, structural problems of an economy dominated research and development priorities reflect the by the banks and their financial markets means needs of the population during and immediately that the Covid-19 pandemic has broken out as after the current Covid-19 crisis and that the international capitalist economy is heading shareholder greed for profit does not render the for the brink of another economic downturn cost of life-saving medicines unaffordable for the made worse by financial speculation and panic. nhs. privatisation, financialisation, a disproportionate concentration of investment in l A far more rigorous testing and quarantine regime applied to everyone with symptoms and the military-industrial sphere, huge tax cuts for their traceable contacts. Comprehensive testing the rich and big business and an obsession with of all people arriving in Britain from heavily extending free markets in commodities of all kinds - including capital and labour - have left the infected countries and regions abroad and urgent preparation for entry and exit virus checks as national and local state apparatus incapable of people move to and from areas of high infection. meeting the complex challenges now facing us l state direction of companies manufacturing all. materials for public purchase (soap, anti-bacterial Today's shortages of key medical staff gel, alcohol) essential to combating the spread of (including 40,000 vacancies for nurses), critical the virus. care facilities and specialised equipment in the l Closure of colleges and schools for teaching national health service are the direct result of decades of under-investment. At the same time, purposes, with state and requisitioned private sector schools used for childcare to assist austerity policies have slashed scottish, Welsh parents working in frontline and other essential and local government provision of social care, occupations. public health and civil emergency services. l Legislating, if necessary, both to enforce the Although the Tory government has promised rationing of purchases of essential goods to end austerity and boost investment with a (including over-the-counter medicines; cleaning £16bn fiscal stimulus and £175bn extra for infrastructure, this does not begin to compensate and disinfectant products; storable foodstuffs) for decades of lost public funding. The march 11 and to combat price hiking and corporate profiteering in the event of shortages in the budget's pledge of £5bn more for the nhs and an additional fiscal stimulus of £12bn to combat shops. There must be heavy penalties for those engaged in illicit market activities. the Covid-19 crisis, and even the £330bn l Taking immediate steps to eliminate promised on march 17 to shore up businesses homelessness, hunger, poverty and fear of such, during the pandemic, still fall far short of the £1,300bn allocated by the British state to rescue including by abolishing universal Credit and providing full benefits to all; substantially City of London banks and markets during and increasing statutory sickness pay and child benefit after the 2007-8 financial crisis. and reforming of statutory redundancy pay to Boris Johnson's government has no intention raise the levels, remove most disqualifications of abandoning the economic and financial and apply it to temporary lay-offs resulting from interests of the business monopolies which measures to suppress the spread of the virus. dominate the British economy and bankroll the l implementing a coordinated strategy to Tory party. Why not? Because to do so would ensure the distribution of vital goods and strike at the core of the monopoly private services to vulnerable people with underlying ownership, the profit motive and capitalist health problems, without local support or in market forces. remote areas. hence the government's reluctance to take l Taking control of the armaments industry in the kind of decisive and far-reaching measures necessary to protect the population from the full order to utilise its advanced technology and production capacity to develop and manufacture dangers of the new coronavirus. medical equipment and other necessities arising such measures should include:
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from the crisis. This would include the freeing-up of £billions currently allocated for the development and production of nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction. At the same time, measures that seek to prohibit political criticism and activity, increase state surveillance on non-virus related activities, prolong the term of office of the central government and 'normalise' the presence of uniformed armed forces personnel in civil society must be opposed and resisted. so, too, should attempts to use the current crisis to cover up the failings of capitalism with its inherent cyclical and structural crises. international cooperation, coordination and solidarity have a major and vital role to play in combating the spread of Covid-19 and developing antidotes to contagion and infection. in particular, China has demonstrated how decisive state intervention and control can especially in a planned economy with key sectors in public ownership - contain the virus and save lives through a dramatic expansion of public health and medical provisions. not surprisingly, the people's republic is now at the forefront of the efforts to develop a vaccine for Covid-19. Cuba has developed an antiviral drug which has been produced in China in a Cuban-Chinese collaborative project and used to treat hundreds of coronavirus patients there and in several other countries. Cuba has sent medical teams and supplies to italy and is now responding to similar requests from Caribbean countries and Chile. Bans and restrictions on such solidarity must be lifted at once, together with embargos and import sanctions placed on virus-hit countries, not least those instigated and enforced by the us government without regard to international and humanitarian law. The Covid-19 crisis confronts not only this Tory government but the capitalist system with an existential acid-test: can they safeguard the mass of the population when faced with potential catastrophes of this kind? Already, the european union is demonstrating the inability of its 'free market' laws and unelected, unaccountable institutions to defend the people of italy and other member states. national state intervention, planning and controls are replacing the neoliberal obsession with corporate freedoms, including open borders and so-called free markets. here is the answer to the pro-eu, ultraremain lobby which is cynically trying to use this crisis to argue for extending the transition period, while raising bogus scares about Britain's exit from various eu agencies. The Communist party of Britain demands that the needs of humanity must triumph over the interests of the capitalist monopolies. We extend our condolences to all victims of the coronavirus in every country and to their relatives and friends. We salute the courage and dedication of our nhs staff and of medical and other front-line workers everywhere. We will play our part in ensuring that the ruling class and their system in Britain are held to account for their share of responsibility for this mortal crisis and their response to it. our message to Communist party members and supporters, the labour movement and to the working class and peoples of Britain is: ‘Fight together now for all measures necessary to protect the people! Be vigilant in the defense of our democratic freedoms and of our right to struggle for a better society and socialism!' issued by the political Committee Communist party of Britain march 18 2020
Live streamed lectures to celebrate Lenin’s 150th 2020 marks 150 years since the birth of Lenin, one of the great theorists of Marxism and pivotal revolutionary leader during the Great October Revolution. Marx Memorial Library is streaming two lectures free of charge to celebrate. On 23 April Jonathan White examines the historical significance of Lenin and his seminal work State and Revolution, written in the midst of Russia’s revolutionary turbulence. What did it mean for the masses of people who made the revolutions of the 20th century? What does it mean today? On 30 April, Jonathan White examines the challenges facing the working class movement in Britain today. What are the issues we face and to what extent can Lenin’s life and work guide our actions? Both lectures start at 7pm on Zoom details https://tinyurl.com/uahdqp5 Marx Memorial Library www.marx-memorial-library.org.uk
Blow to Labour left YOUNG COMMUNIST LEAGUE STATEMENT he eLeCTion of Keir starmer and Angela rayner as leader and deputy leader, represents a significant blow for the left in the Labour party. The election of a right wing Labour leader belies key failings of the Labour left and the trade union movement in the period since Jeremy Corbyn’s election in 2015; disunity and capitulation to the right on key policies, especially Brexit, being chief among them. The fight for democratisation of the Labour party through mandatory reselection of mps, mass political education and a strengthened trade union link, was forced to take the back seat to a fight for survival, in the face of coup attempts, press leaking and class collaboration from the parliamentary Labour party and the right wing. This no doubt weakened the position of the left leadership, leaving them isolated, with only a small number of dependable mps. Amongst all of this however, Corbyn’s Leadership still managed to produce two popular manifestos for radical change, that tens of millions of working class people voted for. The policies in the manifestos offered a vision of genuine change, and a limited redistribution of wealth, putting socialist-orientated politics on the agenda for millions of young people. trade union and Communist party membership has been increasing since 2015 as working class people and the left have been emboldened by the opportunity to build a better world. While this leadership election represents a setback, the landscape and scope to fight for socialist advance has been strengthened. Champagne corks will be popping today, in corporate conference calls and virtual meetings, as the establishment celebrates victory in the name of a political consensus that has justified the decline of our communities, the stripping of power and agency from the workplace and the destruction of our planet. in the coming months and years, the Labour leadership will seek to roll back the popular policies which energised millions of young people, and minimise the role of trade unions. The Communist party and the young Communist League have always been clear that without the presence of a mass extra parliamentary movement of the trade unions and anti-monopoly forces, an isolated left leadership of the Labour party would be defeated and steps would be taken to make it harder for the left to win again. it is in this extra parliamentary movement, the trade unions, community organisations and campaigning bodies, that young people emboldened by Corbynism must place their focus. As a broad movement, we must learn from the experience of the past five years and emerge hardened, rather than wavering, in our convictions. Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership did not emerge from a vacuum and was not the product of one individual, it was the result of extra parliamentary mobilisation against years of austerity at the hands of a Conservative government. history and the episode have shown us that socialist change will be impossible in Britain in the absence of a strong communist movement. our objective must be to build a strong Communist party, the yCL and a mass extra parliamentary shift centred on the trade union movement and popular campaigns. in the final analysis the Labour party is a social democratic party which aims to mend capitalism – not to end it. The capitulations made during the last election campaign especially on Brexit and now the election of a new right-wing leadership clearly demonstrate this. our priority remains building the yCL and the Communist party in a nonsectarian way through our work in communities, trade unions and in the broad movement. Working class state power and socialism in Britain will never result without a mass, disciplined and militant Communist movement that can help sweep the people into power. We will continue to campaign for a full withdrawal from the european union as well for a broad, democratic alliance of left wing forces. These remain essential precursors to putting Britain on the socialist path with the working class in political power. We are now in the midst of a significant crisis prompted by the CoVid19 pandemic, this will be followed by a systemic cyclical capitalist crisis which was already years in the making. There has been no meaningful recovery from the 2008 Financial Crisis for working people, yet already the ruling class will attempt to transfer the burden of these crises and the costs onto working people. , With a Conservative government in power and a major fight on our hands, now is the time for organised and disciplined working class action. We urge young workers to get active in their unions, help organise their communities and create unshakable institutions of working class power. Don’t despair, get active, get organised, join the YCL! www.ycl.or.uk
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Communist party Centenary update phiL KATZ Communists are continuing to organise the centenary programme – 100 years for socialism. But the Covid-19 pandemic has forced a change of emphasis for now, with public-facing events put on hold. Work continues behind the scenes so that we can deliver our bigger events and campaigns as the situation allows. We urge you to continue to register your interest for the centenary weekend so we can let you know any change of dates. Go to 100yearsrally.eventbrite.com For now, we encourage you to go to shop.communistparty.org.uk and to look out for major publications including The real Jessie eden, a new history of the Communist party, a book red Lives - 100 years for socialism, and a 24 page supplement to the morning star. every purchase provides funds that go towards celebrating our communist centenary. We hope that you are well and taking measures to protect yourself, your families and extended communities and workmates.