Campaign Plan 2013-2014

Adopted by CP executive January 2013

Building the Party and the Movement

2013 - 2014

Priorities for Communist Party organisations

1. The Communist Party's well-attended 52nd congress in November 2012 was a political success in terms of the quality of the debate and the unity around the resolutions.

Every Party organisation should consider its decisions as a specific agenda item. The Congress Report will be published online and in pamphlet form.

2. This strategic document sets out our top ten priority areas of work over the coming

1

18 months to two years in the light of those decisions. Its priorities have been selected by the January 2013 Executive Committee (EC) because they will contribute strategically to strengthening the Communist Party and the labour and progressive movements.

3. Obviously, this document should be applied to local conditions flexibly and realistically. It does not displace important ongoing work and

cannot preclude urgent tasks that may arise. Nor is it expected that every Party organisation is in a position to make significant progress on every front of activity.

Nonetheless, every Party branch, district and nation must consider this document as a specific agenda item before the end of February 2013. Applying its main proposals locally should also feature in the Party district and nation congresses due to be held everywhere in 2013.

Building the Party and the Movement

Opposing the cuts, proposing the People's Charter

organisation and build the basis for establishing local People's Charter campaign committees in as many Party 4. Public spending cuts will be twice as branch areas as possible by the middle of deep in the 2013-14 financial year as they 2014. were in 2012-13. Four-fifths of the cuts are still to come, and this austerity 8. In preparation for this, each branch programme will continue until at least should consider initiating at least one 2016 – unless the labour movement People's Charter public event in 2013 stops it. (whether called by the Party, the Trades Council or an anti-cuts or Morning Star 5. Although the need is urgent, there is group). Party districts and nations should still time for the trade unions to build coordinate the work of these branch momentum towards mass, coordinated organisers and consider how to prepare and generalised strike action. Equally for the establishment of a district or important is the formation of genuinely nation-wide People's Charter committee broad-based local campaign committees by mid-2014. This could include initiating that draw together the unions, the Trades public events that feature the charter Council, community organisations and (perhaps through the regional or national wherever possible Labour Party TUC). Promoting the charter is in the members and councillors. The Coalition TUC workplan for all Trades Councils in of Resistance and the People's Assembly England and Wales over the coming planned for June 1 can play a valuable period and pressure needs to be exerted role in this work. Some of the to ensure that this happens. campaigning should target local LibDem MPs, offices and councillors as the weak Strengthening the trade union link in the Tory-led coalition. movement 6. Communist Party organisations must be fully involved in this work. Our priority while doing so is to highlight other major aspects of the Tory-LibDem strategy, notably to (1) extend privatisation into almost every part of the public sector (especially state secondary education and the NHS in England); and (2) to weaken trades unionism through mass redundancies and attacks on facility time. It should also feature in anti-austerity campaigning that the cuts burden is falling disproportionately on women as public sector workers, carers and single parents.

7. We should promote the People's Charter as an integral part of this work.

The chief political objective is to make the People's Charter a central feature in the resistance to Con-Dem policies and, in effect, the alternative programme of the labour and mass movement. Our party's chief practical aims should be to help strengthen the charter's central

2

9. We need a trade union movement that will take the lead nationally, regionally and locally in building the democratic, popular alliance against austerity and privatisation. In their meetings, Party organisations should regularly consider their trade union work as a specific agenda item, with reports from members active in this work. Wherever possible, Party members should be encouraged to join and become active in an appropriate union.

10. Trades Union Councils have a valuable role to play in all kinds of campaigning work, including union recruitment in difficult sectors and involving the unemployed and community bodies in activity. More Trades Councils are organising broad-based May Day events and this should be developed wherever possible. Party branches should consider how to strengthen Trades Councils by winning more affiliations, better attendance and higher levels of public

Building the Party and the Movement

and campaigning activity. They can also play a role in strengthening constructive relations between the local Labour Party and the trade unions, which will usually increase left influence in the party.

11. A new edition of Needs of the Hour (NoTH, a document of model resolutions for trade union conferences) will be issued early in 2013. All Party organisations should ensure that their trade union activists and allies in the movement receive NoTH and table its motions as and where appropriate. All Party nation and district committees should have a trade union organiser.

Promoting the Morning Star 12. Growing trade union support for the paper and, at the same time, its serious and ongoing financial situation mean that action is needed from all Party organisations, urgently and continuously.

13. All Party bodies must consider how they can promote the Morning Star in their area, including through regular sales at labour and progressive movement events. The case for taking or expanding shareholdings in the PPPS cooperative should be raised in trade union bodies as appropriate. Where possible, a shopping area pitch should be established, preferably with a stall. Combing sales with a Party leaflet distribution can be effective.

14. All Party branches should aim to hold at least one Morning Star public meeting in 2013, more if possible. Every effort should be made to involve local labour and progressive movement activists in such initiatives, broadening them out so that they are not – and do not appear to be – the property of the Communist Party. All Party branches should aim to have a functioning Morning Star Readers & Supporters Group in their area by sometime in 2014. Likewise, a Morning Star Campaign Committee based on local groups and unions represented on the PPPS Management Committee (Unite, GMB, RMT, North East Area NUM, FBU, Community, NUM, POA, CWU) should be in place in every Party district and nation by the end of 2014.

3

15. Party branches must carry out an audit to ensure that all Party members buy a copy of the Morning Star every day. Comrades in financial difficulty should be assisted collectively. The importance of taking out or increasing shareholdings and making donations to the Fighting Fund should also be emphasised. Every meeting of every Party organisation must have the Morning Star and taking a collection on its agenda.

Involving and supporting women 16. Considerable progress has recently been made but much remains to be done to involve and promote more women in trade union and political activity – including in the Communist Party itself. Therefore Party organisations should consider how they can (1) promote the Charter for Women in their area; (2) introduce more women and men to the work and publications of the National Assembly of Women, including its journal Sisters; and (3) support and if necessary help initiate a local/regional public event to mark International Women's Day (March 8) in 2013 and/or 2014 and support the annual national IWD event in London organised by the Coordinating Committee of Communist Parties in Britain (on Saturday 9 March in 2013).

17. Our aim should be to lay the basis in 2013 for establishing a local, broad-based National Assembly for Women network or organisation sometime in 2014.

Fighting racism and fascism 18. As austerity continues and more jobs are lost, sections of the mass media, the Tories and outfits such as UKIP, the EDL and the BNP will step up their anti-immigrant and racist propaganda. This makes it all the more important for Party organisations to combat these ideas and help strengthen local, broadbased campaigning against racism and fascism.

Work in, through and by the trade union movement has an important contribution to make, including in the workplace. Our party must work towards reducing and overcoming divisions within the anti-racist, anti-fascist movement rather than deepening them.

Building the Party and the Movement

19. All Party district and nation committees should ensure that they are represented on the central Anti-Racism, Anti-Fascism Commission.

Extending electoral work

against austerity and privatisation. To help the Party's Anti-EU and Popular Sovereignty commission inform and guide our work, all Party district and nation committees should appoint a member to the commission.

20. Local elections are take place in England on May 2, 2013, for eight unitary authorities and all 27 non-metropolitan county councils (see Appendix 1). These are excellent opportunities to promote left policies, raise the level of political debate and strengthen the Communist Party and its influence. Branches and districts should urgently consider where they might be in a position to wage a viable campaign. Party centre will organise an election school for candidates, agents and organisers early in 2013.

25. Party activity around this question could include targeted personal discussions with allies, distribution of Party materials, promotion of relevant resolutions in the trade union movement and the organisation of Morning Star meetings, forums and conferences.

21. Almost all other local councils in England will hold elections for some or all of their seats in May or June 2014 (Appendix 2). Although contests and candidates should be considered as soon as possible, this also allows time to launch a newsletter in targeted areas and begin campaigning on local issues.

Campaigning for Palestine

22. Although a General Election might not be called until May 2015, an early discussion in Party bodies about possible contests and candidates would be useful. This can, of course, be an integral part of the plan for community newsletter distribution and local election work.

26. Elections for the European Parliament will be held in 2014. The Party's new EC will consult and decide what approach we will be taking towards the campaign.

27. Our party's 52nd congress reaffirmed the priority that should be attached to solidarity work in support of the Palestinian people. All Party branches should hold a specific discussion on the issue, outlining congress policy and drawing up plans for local campaigning to (1) promote the right of the Palestinian people to form a viable, independent and sovereign state alongside the state of Israel; (2) boycott Israel in the academic, cultural, economic, military and political spheres; and (3) secure the release of Marwan Barghouti and the thousands of other Palestinian political prisoners from Israeli gaols.

Opposing the European Union 28. Action could include letters to the local 23. A number of trade union conferences have press, pickets of premises to support a boycott, underlined the work that remains to be done in public meetings (under the banner of Trades exposing the anti-democratic, anti-working Councils, the Morning Star or solidarity class, monopoly capitalist character of the EU. organisations) and invitations to speakers to This could be made more difficult by an address labour movement and other bodies. increase in public support for the United Party branches, districts and nations should Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP), with many affiliate to the Palestine Solidarity Campaign and left and labour movement activists wanting to play an active part in local PSC organisations. distance themselves from anti-EU positions on the right.

29. Where no broad-based Palestine solidarity organisation exists locally (whether affiliated to 24. Therefore, Party organisations should the PSC or not), we should approach allies with consider how they can assist in winning the a view to establishing one by mid-2014. battle of ideas for the progressive, left and antiimperialist case against the EU and in favour of Reinvigorating the peace movement popular sovereignty. This is especially important in the trade union movement, where our anti30. There is no let-up in imperialism's drive for EU position can be linked to the campaign world domination. As well as Western military

4

Building the Party and the Movement

intervention in Syria and Pakistan, the threat of an Israeli strike against Iran and attempts to further destabilise Lebanon, US imperialism is redoubling its efforts to reverse the leftward turn across Latin America. There is also imperialism's strategy to surround and contain Russia, India and China militarily, including though the introduction of a new generation of nuclear weapons in Britain.

31. This perspective not only underlines the importance of maintaining established campaigning bodies such as Cuba Solidarity, Justice for Colombia and the Venezuela Solidarity Campaign. It means renewing work with CODIR (the Committee for the Defence of Iranian People's Rights), including the distribution of its journal Iran Today and winning resolutions for solidarity in the trade union movement.

32. It will also be vital to reinvigorate the peace and anti-war movement, notably the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. Party members should be encouraged to join CND or its Scottish and Welsh, while all Party branches, districts and nations should be affiliated to the same. Where no active CND organisation exists, the Party locally should work with other CND members and our allies to help establish it.

33. We also need each district and nation committee to appoint a comrade to the Party's Peace commission so that it can inform, guide and coordinate our work more effectively (which will include strengthening links in Britain with the World Peace Council).

Building the Communist Party 34. Building our party on the ground requires conscious planning and activity. If we work correctly, this will go hand in hand with strengthening the labour and progressive movements, each reinforcing the other.

35. In order to carry out the Party's priorities over the coming period, comrades will have to be allocated by their local Party organisations to lead the work in each specific area. They should then report regularly to – and receive support from – that same body. This means that every

5

Party branch, district and nation should aim, as quickly as possible, to appoint comrades to the following posts (even if members have to take on more than one): People's Charter organiser trade union organiser women's organiser Morning Star organiser literature secretary (including Communist Review) political education organiser Palestine co-ordinator 36. Stronger relations between the branch and the district or nation committee, the EC and Party centre are also central to building our party. This means actively seeking, ordering and making use of centrally produced materials, supporting central events (the Trade Union & Political Cadre School, the Communist University of Britain, the Highgate Oration etc.) and mobilisations (national demonstrations, Tolpuddle) by allocating and assisting members to attend.

37. Instead of a two-or three-month speaking tour, the Party will be holding a coordinated programme of public meetings throughout the period between April and October. The theme will link the fight against austerity and privatisation with the perspective of socialism.

The emphasis will be on local preparation and local speakers, with Party centre providing publicity and information about a central speaker at the earliest point possible.

38. We also need all Party organisations to develop a rigorous, systematic approach to campaigning, recruitment, cadre development, political education, dues payment and fundraising. As the 52nd congress put it:

For the People's Charter and a people's Britain!

Build the Communist Party and the labour movement!

Together for our future - a world to win!

Building the Party and the Movement

Anti-cuts and People's Charter

Ensure that every district and nation is represented on the Party Anti-Racism, AntiFascism Commission.

Help to build broad-based anti-cuts campaigns.

Elections

Promote the People's Charter, appoint People's Charter organisers and lay the basis for establishing local Charter campaign committees by mid-2014.

Plan for Party contests in the May 2013 and May/June 2014 local elections where appropriate.

Summary of main proposals

Trade union movement

Consider taking up local issues and producing a local newsletter for targeted areas.

Broaden and strengthen local Trades Councils.

European Union

Discuss trade union work regularly in Party meetings and promote Needs of the Hour model resolutions.

Plan specific local initiatives to expose the class character of the EU, linking this work to the struggle against austerity and privatisation, for popular sovereignty.

Ensure that every Party district and nation has a Palestine trade union organiser to coordinate activities.

Morning Star Plan more public sales of the paper.

Organise broad-based Morning Star public meetings.

Ensure at least one Morning Star Readers & Supporters Group functions in each Party branch area, and a union-based Morning Star Campaign Committee in each district and nation, by sometime in 2014.

Plan solidarity work with an agenda item discussion at Party meetings.

Affiliate Party organisations to the Palestine Solidarity Campaign and help build local, broadbased solidarity bodies.

Peace and anti-imperialism Support organisations in solidarity with the peoples of Cuba,Venezuela, Colombia and Iran.

Women

Help to reinvigorate CND and other peace organisations through affiliations and helping to found or strengthen local organisations.

Appoint women's organisers and promote the Charter for Women and the National Assembly of Women.

The Communist Party

Strengthen broad-based campaigning organisations and build unity wherever possible.

Participate in the Party programme of public meetings.

Appoint Party branch, district and nation Help to organise a broad International Women's officers to lead work in relation to the People's Charter, trade unions, women, the Morning Star, Day event in March 2013 and/or 2014.

Palestine, Party literature and political education.

Lay the basis for establishing a broad-based NAW organisation in 2014.

Allocate and assist local Party members to attend Party national mobilisations and events.

Racism and fascism

6

Building the Party and the Movement

Develop a rigorous approach to all important aspects of Party organisation and activity.

Appendix 1: 2013 Local Elections Unitary authorities: Bristol (one-third of seats only), Cornwall, Durham, Isle of Wight, Isles of Scilly, Northumberland, Shropshire, Wiltshire Non-metropolitan county councils: Buckinghamshire, Cambridgeshire, Cumbria, Derbyshire, Devon, Dorset, East Sussex, Essex, Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Hertfordshire, Kent, Lancashire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Norfolk, North Yorkshire, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Somerset, Staffordshire, Suffolk, Surrey, Warwickshire, West Sussex, Worcestershire

Appendix 2: 2014 Local Elections London boroughs: all councils Metropolitan boroughs (one-third of seats): all councils, namely Barnsley, Birmingham, Bolton, Bradford, Bury, Calderdale, Coventry, Doncaster, Dudley, Gateshead, Kirklees, Knowsley, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle upon Tyne, North Tyneside, Oldham, Rochdale, Rotherham, St. Helens, Salford, Sandwell, Sefton, Sheffield, Solihull, South Tyneside, Stockport, Sunderland, Tameside, Trafford, Wakefield, Walsall, Wigan, Wirral, Wolverhampton Unitary authorities (one-third of seats): Blackburn, Darwen, Bristol, Derby, Halton, Hartlepool, Kingston upon Hull, Milton Keynes, North East Lincolnshire, Peterborough, Plymouth, Portsmouth, Reading, Slough, Southampton, Southend-on-Sea, Stoke-onTrent, Swindon, Thurrock, Warrington, Wokingham Non-metropolitan districts (half of seats): Adur, Cheltenham, Fareham, Gosport, Hastings, Nuneaton and Bedworth, Oxford; (one-third of seats): Amber Valley, Barrow-in-Furness, Basildon, Basingstoke and Deane, Bassetlaw, Brentwood, Broxbourne, Burnley, Cambridge, Cannock Chase, City of Carlisle, Castle Point, Cherwell, Chorley, Colchester, Craven, Crawley,

7

Daventry, Eastleigh, Elmbridge, Epping Forest, Gloucester, Great Yarmouth, Harlow, Harrogate, Hart, Havant, Hertsmere, Huntingdonshire, Hyndburn, Ipswich, Lincoln, Maidstone, Mole Valley, Newcastle-under-Lyme, North Hertfordshire, Pendle, Preston, Purbeck, Redditch, Reigate and Banstead, Rochford, Rossendale, Rugby, Runnymede, Rushmoor, St Albans, South Cambridgeshire, South Lakeland, Stevenage, Stratford-on-Avon, Stroud, Swale, Tamworth, Tandridge, Three Rivers, Tunbridge Wells, Watford, Waveney, Welwyn Hatfield, West Lancashire, West Lindsey, West Oxfordshire, Weymouth and Portland, Winchester, Woking, Worcester, Worthing, Wyre Forest