unity!
communist-party.org.uk May 2017
‘An Agreement of the People for a firm and present peace upon grounds of common right ‘
For a peoples’ Brexit BREXIT
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s The King executed
Their struggle is ours OUR HISTORY
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N THE night of May 14 1649, at the height of the English revolution, Cromwell's troops overpowered a group of 400 Levellers in a surprise attack at Burford, Oxfordshire. What took then took place, argues Gawain Little established principles we are still trying to get to grips with in the modern Labour Movement. A number escaped, including their leader Captain Thompson, but the rest were imprisoned in Burford church and eventually three were shot for mutiny. This put an end to what was one of a number of Leveller uprisings which took place that year. Others were stamped out in a similar manner, the civilian leaders of the Levellers were arrested and the Leveller movement ceased to pose a serious threat to Cromwell's rule. Just two years earlier, in 1647, the Levellers had been at the height of their strength. The movement had developed within Cromwell's New Model Army England's first professional force comprised of volunteers and with an openly political ethos. Inspired by the parliamentary cause and by the ideas of John Lilburne, Richard Overton and other radical pamphleteers, and faced with the reality of pay arrears and unacceptable orders from Parliament, they quickly became radicalised and organised. Their demands, set out in a manifesto called the Agreement of the People, included universal male suffrage, the frequent recall of Parliament, abolition of the monarchy and the House of Lords, and the equality of all under the law. These demands increasingly put the Levellers at odds with Parliament and its senior officers. However, in the midst of the civil war, Cromwell could not afford rebellion in the ranks of the parliamentary army and
the Levellers made some progress. ‘Agitators’ were elected by the soldiers in each regiment to represent their views to senior officers and an army council was set up to discuss the Leveller demands. These discussions, known as the Putney Debates, essentially hinged on whether the franchise should be extended to all men or, as spokesmen for Cromwell and the other senior officers argued, restricted to those with property. Almost 200 years before the birth of Chartism, the demand for universal suffrage - or at least universal male suffrage - had been raised. But the’Levellers' demands were not limited to the political sphere. They understood only too well that democracy was meaningless if it did not extend into the economic sphere. They began to call for an end to tithes and for land redistribution. These demands in particular posed a serious threat to Parliament, dominated as it was by wealthy landowners. Over 350 years have passed since the Levellers made their stand, but many of the issues they struggled with are just as relevant today. While universal suffrage
has been achieved, Parliament and the political process is still dominated by the wealthy, as the current government shows only too clearly. The monarchy was of course restored, albeit in "constitutional" form and the House of Lords still ensures that privilege and heredity are directly represented in the governing of the country. The most striking thing, however, is the extent to which the separation between politics and the economy has been maintained. Few of our hard-won democratic rights extend into our working lives. Trade unions, as the democratic voice of working people, are shackled by the anti-trade union laws which prevent them from adequately defending their members rights by imposing arbitrary legal restrictions on their actions. The right to strike is increasingly under attack from the courts with legitimate strike action effectively being declared illegal in many cases. And most importantly of all, working people have no democratic control over the economy on either a national or local basis. But we can take inspiration from looking back to the struggles of the Levellers. While the uprisings of 1649 were essentially the end of the Levellers' campaign, much of what they fought for has been achieved by others following in their footsteps. While the Levellers' struggle was not successful in their own time, there are a number of lessons we can learn from their example. Chief among these is the fact that their movement was about much more than simply democracy in the abstract.It directly became a question about power - who exercised it and in whose interests. These are questions which our movement will have to tackle if we want to go beyond defeating the current round of cuts and build a secure and sustainable future for all.
OW SHOULD Britain’s exit from the European Union proceed? On this as well as other fronts, the labour movement in Britain faces challenges that will shape the future of working people and their families for a generation writes Robert Griffiths. The starting point must be to recognise the character and legitimacy of the vote to leave the EU. According to Lord Ashcroft’s poll of 12,369 voters, the most important issue for half of all Leave supporters was UK sovereignty. Only one-third put control over immigration first, although both sovereignty and immigration as well as the economy were important to the majority. However ill founded, expressing concern about the impact of immigration on local jobs, wages and public services is not a sure-fire indicator of racism. Nevertheless, just under half of Leave voters also had a negative view of multiculturalism, with only one quarter seeing it as positive. Clearly much work remains to be done to strengthen the links between our different communities, overcoming ignorance and prejudice. At the same time, one-third of black and ethnic minority voters opposed EU membership, including a majority of Sikhs and Jews. The Lexit Left Leave campaign involved many Indian, Bangladeshi, Turkish and Greek workers here. The political outlook of Leave voters was equally mixed. More than one-third of Labour and SNP and a majority of Plaid Cymru supporters opted to leave the EU, along with a quarter of Greens and almost one-third of LibDems. Just under half of voters described either capitalism, globalisation or both as a force for ill in society, the majority of them voted Leave. In fact, they comprised around onethird of anti-EU voters. As for the validity of the referendum, before June 23 almost all campaigners accepted that the result should be implemented whichever way it went. Nothing strengthens the UKIP/Tory position in Labour’s heartlands more than schemes to subvert the people’s decision. Not surprisingly, the SNP is exploiting
the voting differences between England, Wales and Scotland to advance its mirage of independence under the Crown, the Bank of England, the EU and NATO. The best response is argue the positive case for working class unity, progressive federalism and wealth redistribution. It is also claimed that the result is invalid because it was achieved with lies. But lies and scares were used prolifically on both sides, including by Cameron, Osborne, City bankers, the CBI, the Institute of Directors, the IMF and NATO. The Communist Party and its Lexit allies found that telling the truth about the antidemocratic, pro-big business and racist EU was enough to counter the propaganda from reactionary quarters on both sides. The need now is to rebuild left and labour movement unity against the Tory government and its austerity and privatisation policies. That must include proposing an alternative agenda for Britain’s exit from the EU which promotes working class and the people’s interests. Therefore Britain’s Communists propose the following positions: l No to membership of the European Union ‘Single Market’ and TTIP – regulate the movement of capital, commodities and labour in the interests of working people. l Renounce EU Court of Justice rulings protecting the super-exploitation of migrant workers – no more undercutting; equal terms and conditions for all. l Enact any progressive EU social and environmental policies into British law. l Continue funding vital programmes previously supported via the EU. l No more EU budget contributions – invest in public services and housing. l Regain freedom to cut or abolish VAT. l Guarantee residence for EU citizens currently living in Britain. l Uphold the Human Rights Act and the European Convention on Human Rights. l Reverse the racist anti-immigration rules imposed on non-Europeans as part of the EU ‘Fortress Europe’ policy. l Withdraw from the EU Common Foreign and Defence Policy and its aggressive alliance with NATO. ROBERT GRIFFITHS IS GENERAL SECRETARy OF THE COMMUNIST PARTy
‘The Morning Star is the most precious and only voice we have in the daily media’ Jeremy Corbyn The Morning Star is the world’s only English language socialist daily paper. It was founded in 1930 as the Daily Worker, the organ of the central committee of the Communist Party and in 1948 became a co-op, the People’s Press Printing Society, run by an elected management committee which has ten national trade unions in membership. The paper provides day to day coverage of the fight for workplace rights, equal rights and the struggle against austerity. Until his election as Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn was a weekly columnist.
Leading figures in the labour and trade union movement and progressives and peace activists write regularly in the paper. There is a vibrant arts page and the paper’s sports coverage, especially football (including womens’ football), boxing and racing is renowned. The paper’s online edition is proving very popular with busy trade union activists who want and need reliable and informed labour movement news. The Morning Star is on sale at all Co-op Stores, RS McColls and can be ordered at your local newsagent.
Vote Labour in Wales, Scotland and England
Defend Oxfordshire local democracy
ELECTION
to live or work here – concessions which would be opposed by at least some antieU Tory MPs. At the same time, and in the light of the eU referendum campaign, it is now clear that a vote for the LibDems, greens, SnP and Plaid Cymru will be a vote for eU free-market fundamentalism and the eU’s alignment with nATo. A vote for UkiP will be a vote for austerity, privatisation, tax cuts for the rich and big business and for a narrow, xenophobic nationalism that seeks to divide working people instead of on the other side, Labour’s policies in this election include more progressive taxation, state bank investment in public services, support for industry, an end to nhS privatisation, public ownership of the he working class and the railways, community ownership of energy, an peoples of Britain face a stark choice on 8 June: whether to vote end to zero-hours contracts, the restoration of employment and trade union rights and for more austerity, privatisation, growing inequality, militarism and war; the building of half a million new council or to elect a left-led Labour government houses. For UCU’s own sectors the Labour policies include the reinstatement of student with policies to enhance our public nursing bursaries, the abolition of he tuition services, invest in industry and housing, combat poverty, safeguard the fees, the restoration of eMA grants in Fe environment, liberate the trade unions, and the building of a national education Service. promote social justice and pursue an The Communist Party is in no doubt that independent foreign policy based on voting Labour is the only choice which peace and international solidarity. serves the interests of workers and their Theresa May and the Tories want a bigger Commons majority in order to force families. in every general election since the formation of the Communist Party in 1920, through a raft of policies opposed by we have stood our own candidates, not least many millions of people in Britain, in 2015 when we fielded nine. now, on this including: occasion, we will not contest any seats, l Five more years of austerity and privatisation of the nhS and other public although this does not signal any withdrawal from the electoral arena in the future. services. Despite the reactionary views of numerous l The reintroduction of grammar and Labour Party candidates, we call for a therefore, in effect, of secondary modern Labour vote in every constituency across schools. Britain. our members are campaigning for l A new round of anti-trade union laws, this as the essential first step towards the aimed at workers in public transport, formation of a left-led Labour government at education and other important services. l renewal of the Trident nuclear weapons westminster. But this election also marks a further system under US control, at a cost of more intensification of the left-right struggle than £150bn. in particular, May and her closest allies within the labour movement and the Labour Party. The higher the Labour vote and the want to negotiate an agreement with the number of Labour MPs elected, the more eU that would keep Britain in the secure will be the position of Jeremy Corbyn european Single Market in all but name, and his left allies in the Parliamentary which would mean no return of Labour Party. Any reverses for Labour will democratic control over trade, capital movements, public investment (including be used as a pretext by the right-wing proeU, pro-nATo faction in the PLP and its state aid for industry), procurement trade union allies to launch yet another bid policy, agriculture or over the to remove Jeremy Corbyn and take the superexploitation of migrant labour. Labour Party back to the neoliberal and proAlmost certainly, too, Britain would have war policies of the past. This must not to pay an extortionate ‘exit fee’ and grant happen! favourable access to eU citizens wishing
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DEMOCRACY
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XFORDSHIRE Communists reject the Better Oxfordshire proposals cobbled together by three Tory-led Oxfordshire councils. As Communists, we believe the only good reasons to reorganise local government are to improve public services and extend local democracy. The Better Oxfordshire proposals do neither. We believe effective service delivery and democratic accountability are best maintained by retaining the current multi-layer structures which involve: l Parish and Town Councils l District Councils and the City Council; and l the County Council. Unitary authorities Communists reject all the proposals for so-called unitary authorities in Oxfordshire that have been put forward to date: l the City unitary l the three-unitary model l the Vale and South unitary l the Cherwell and South Northants unitary l the West Oxfordshire and Cotswold unitary. The Better Oxfordshire proposals create a more remote form of local government in which all major decisions in Oxfordshire would be taken by one small clique at County Hall. The attitude to democracy of the Tories behind the proposals is well demonstrated by their aim to have their reorganisation imposed on the people of Oxfordshire by Theresa May’s right-wing Tory government – having failed to get the other three Oxfordshire councils to endorse their plan. The track record of the three Tory councils behind the proposals is a long history of privatising and slashing public services with disastrous consequences for those who rely on public services and those who deliver them – and the many thousands who do both. The advocates of Better Oxfordshire pretend it is a way of delivering Oxfordshire’s public services for far less than the current cost when it is only
manifesto
State Monopoly Capitalism Gretchen Binus, Beate Landsfeld and Andreas Wehr translated by Martin Levy
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MANIFESTO PRESS
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State monopoly capitalism This important book revisits the marxist theory of state monopoly capitalism and examines the relevance of its main ideas in the light of late 20th and early 21st century assaults on the power of capital. Written by German theorists Gretchen Binus, Beate Landsfeld and Andreas Wehr with an introduction by Jonathan White and a translation by Martin Levy.
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return to Communist Party Ruskin House 23 Coombe Road Croydon CR0 1BD e mail office@communist-party.org.uk or call 02086861659 HLevellers 2017
Oxfordshire Mayor The Labour City Council has joined with Oxfordshire’s two other Tory councils to put forward a plan to create an Oxfordshire Combined Authority with an elected mayor as an alternative way of placating the Tory government and staving off the Better Oxfordshire proposals. Communists call for this plan also to be rejected. Combined authorities and elected mayors have both been established as part of an attack on local democracy. There is nothing good to be said about combined authorities, with or without elected mayors. l Combined authorities transfer powers to a remote committee on which each of the affected councils has just one representative. These individuals form the local Cabinet. l Where combined authorities are headed by a directly elected mayor that person can do almost whatever they wish once elected – their budget, for example, can only be blocked if the combined authority rejects it by a twothirds majority. The current Tory government is not so stupid as to believe combined authorities are likely to be popular. Instead the Tories have said they will starve areas of cash for major projects unless councils agree to what it calls “local devolution”. This threat must be faced down. Fight the attacks on local democracy Oxfordshire’s Communists call for none of these proposals to go further until they have been put to a vote of the people of Oxfordshire. The only real answer to the financial crisis facing local government is to reverse the cuts in local government funding. We demand a different future based on increasing local democracy and extending public services. We call on people to unite behind national campaigns like the People’s Assembly that advocate an end to austerity and a complete change of direction.
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This pamphlet looks at the course of the Brexit negotiations themselves: how options are currently being defined by the British government and what their implications are for workers’ rights. It starts by examining the EU: its positive achievements but also its neo-liberal economic framework and the consequences both for the crisis of social democracy and the rise of rightwing populism. The third section looks at the objectives of British big business and the City of London, the relationship with the US, and most important of all, why British big business and the City will not and cannot resolve the basic problems facing the British economy and why public sector intervention is essential. The pamphlet ends by considering the opportunities and dangers posed by the negotiations for working people in Britain. It argues that the opportunity now exists for restoring democratic control over the economy, for addressing the structural problems of stagnation and job loss and for re-establishing workers’ rights. A campaign for such an outcome has the potential to galvanise a wider movement across Europe and constitutes the best chance for winning the battle against right-wing populism. The alternative, of the Tory government creating a new right-wing populist base for neo-liberal economics, is one that should persuade every trade unionist of the necessity to campaign for a progressive settlement. Buy at http://tinyurl.com/hwj6pby www.communist-party.org.uk
TRADE UNION FUTURES
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really a way of cutting public services with less risk of public opposition forcing councillors to block the plans.
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A resource for trade unionists run by supporters of the Morning Star, the daily paper of the left in Britain. Trade Union Futures aims to be part of the process of unifying everyone who shares that our vision and assisting in the development of a new generation of trade union leaders in Britain.
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Communist Review theory and discussion journal of the Communist Party Spring 2017 The Overthrow of Tsardom Part 1, The Gathering of the Storm Andrew Rothstein Chinese CP contribution to IMCWP in Vietnam Writers and the Spanish Civil War John Manson Space, Time – and Dialectics. Part 4 Martin Levy RA Revolution review Nick Wright The Sealed Train Lars Ulrik Thomsen Soul Food with Mike Quille £2.50 quarterly www.communist-party.org.uk