THE Communist Party of Britain’s executive committee met in London over the weekend to discuss domestic and international developments and the party’s plans and priorities for work for the remainder of 2024.
I delivered the political report.
Opening, I noted that it has now been almost three months since Keir Starmer won a landslide victory on July 4 2024, based on Britain’s highly unrepresentative and anti-democratic First Past the Post System, which underpins the ruling class two-party system.
This victory had nothing to do with mass public support for Starmer’s tepid, right-wing politics. This victory was due entirely to public rejection of the right-wing Tory government.
Despite the supermajority of circa two-thirds of MPs, Starmer only scraped a third of the vote. We must be clear that this is a deeply unpopular government and Prime Minister. If the left and trade union movement are able to correctly exert our strength and power — this is a fundamentally weak Labour government.
The party must combat right-wing elements in the trade union movement prepared to kowtow to the Starmer government or who are calling to give them time.
This government is already laying down a clear austerity agenda. We must build an immediate and militant response from the trade union and anti-austerity movements.
The number of people who chose not to vote, the rise of the far right and popular apathy and dissatisfaction are the challenge and the opportunity that the left must respond to in an organised and strategic fashion.
I attacked Starmer and Lammy’s belated calls for a ceasefire in Palestine and Lebanon, just like the suspension of a handful of arms export licences to Israel, as a supreme lesson in cynicism and hypocrisy.
If Starmer cared at all about a ceasefire, he would immediately cut off arms and funds to the Israeli war machine, condemn the genocide being perpetrated in Gaza and recognise a sovereign Palestinian state. But he hasn’t done a single one of these.
The executive committee noted the very real risk of a wider regional war drawing in Iran and other states and called for the strengthening and wider mobilisation of the Palestine solidarity and peace movements in the months ahead.
The meeting welcomed the excellent success of the China 75 celebrations held the day prior, organised by the Communist Party and Friends of Socialist China. Combatting sinophobia and anti-communism and celebrating the successes of socialism in China are a core task for our party here in Britain in the battle of ideas.
I called on Communist Party members across Britain to be bold and ambitious on every front in the months ahead and to focus on building the party in terms of recruitment and increasing levels of activity and propaganda work.
Build the party, build the broad movement — these must be our core priorities and watchwords in the months ahead.
