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Communist Party of Great Britain (Marxist–Leninist) | |
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| Abbreviation | CPGB-ML |
| Chairperson | Ella Rule |
| Vice Chairpersons |
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| Founder | Harpal Brar |
| Founded | 3 July 2004; 21 years ago (2004-07-03) Southall,London, England |
| Split from | Socialist Labour Party |
| Preceded by | |
| Headquarters | London (currently); before theCPGBML–WPB split in November 2022 it was inBirmingham,West Midlands, England |
| Newspaper | Proletarian |
| Ideology | |
| Political position | Far-left |
| International affiliation | World Anti-Imperialist Platform[2] |
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TheCommunist Party of Great Britain (Marxist–Leninist), abbreviatedCPGB-ML, is ananti-revisionistMarxist–Leninistcommunist party in theUnited Kingdom, active inEngland,Scotland, andWales. The CPGB-ML was founded byHarpal Brar after a split from theSocialist Labour Party (SLP) on 3 July 2004. The CPGB-ML publishes the bimonthly newspaperProletarian, and the Marxist–Leninist journalLalkar (originally associated with theIndian Workers' Association) is also closely allied with the party. The party chair is Ella Rule.
The party's origins were in theAssociation of Communist Workers (ACW), formed by Indian communist writer and politicianHarpal Brar in 1969 as aMaoist breakaway from theRevolutionary Marxist–Leninist League, itself a Maoist split from theCommunist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) in 1965. The ACW joined theSocialist Labour Party (SLP), led by former miners' leaderArthur Scargill,[3] but split from it because of Scargill's refusal to accept support forNorth Korea and other states.[4] As a result, Scargill chose to expel a number of members of the party's central committee and its entire Yorkshire region.[5] Those expelled, along with others who resigned, founded the CPGB-ML in 2004 inSouthall, London.[5][6]
The CPGB-ML adheres toMarxism–Leninism, the political theory adopted by theCommunist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU). The CPGB-ML praises communist leaders such asVladimir Lenin,Joseph Stalin,[7]Mao Zedong,[8]Kim Il Sung,[9]Enver Hoxha[10] andFidel Castro.[11] The party opposesTrotskyism,social democracy,democratic socialism and what they termrevisionist (includingKhruschevite) parties. In 1995 former CPGB-ML chairmanHarpal Brar published a book titledSocial Democracy: The Enemy Within.[12]
The party accepted a position at its 2012 congress that there are no separate English and Scottish nations, but rather, when those nations were at the point of developing as modern capitalist economies, their ruling classes joined to form a British nation.[13] Though the CPGB-ML believes in local/workers democracy, it sees the Scottish independence movement as diversionary from building a working-class movement across the historic nation of Great Britain and therefore opposes it. It claims that proposals set forward for Scottish independence will not break the Union, the British state, or the British army in any significant manner.[14] In its opposition to Scottish independence, it stands at odds with theScottish Socialist Party,[15] theSocialist Workers Party[16] and theSocialist Party (England and Wales).[citation needed]
OnNorthern Ireland, the CPGB-ML has called for the withdrawal of British troops fromIreland and for aunified 32-county state to be formed. It supports Sinn Féin's leadership of theGood Friday Agreement, which it believes falls within this framework.[17]
The CPGB‑ML supported a pro‑Leave ("Lexit") position in the 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum, arguing that withdrawal from the EU would curb the influence of British, European and US imperialism.[18]
After Article 50 was invoked in March 2017 the party welcomed the step, describing it as a setback for Britain’s finance‑capitalist elite.[19]
During the 2018 discussion over a possible second referendum, CPGB‑ML publications characterised the proposed “people’s vote” as an attempt by finance capital to reverse the Leave result.[20]
For the 2019 European Parliament election the party advised supporters to cast a tactical vote for the Brexit Party in order to intensify internal divisions within Britain’s ruling class.[21][22]
Following the December 2019 United Kingdom general election, the CPGB‑ML argued that the working‑class gave a renewed mandate to complete Brexit and described itself as “a motive force in launching the Workers Party of Britain”, noting that party vice‑chair Joti Brar was elected WPB deputy leader at its founding congress.[23]
The CPGB‑ML was a driving force behind the creation of the Workers Party of Britain (WPB) in January 2020, forming what it described as an “alliance” with former Respect MP George Galloway. At the founding congress, CPGB‑ML vice‑chair Joti Brar was elected WPB deputy leader.[24]
Initially the party encouraged members to build WPB branches, presenting the new organisation as a vehicle for breaking working‑class allegiance to Labour. A statement issued in February 2022 argued, however, that “developments since that time have led the party to withdraw our members’ efforts from the Workers Party project”, describing the WPB as “a left‑social‑democratic vehicle for bourgeois parliamentarism and anticommunism”.[25]
The CPGB-ML supports governments around the world which it considers to be socialist oranti-imperialist, such as those ofChina,[26]Venezuela,[27]Russia,[28]Cuba,[29]Zimbabwe,[30] andIran.[31] Delegations from the Chinese,[32] Cuban,[33] Venezuelan,[34]North Korean,[35] andLaotian[36] embassies have attended meetings of the CPGB-ML.
The party opposesZionism and has called for the dissolution of theState of Israel, which it labels as anapartheid state.[37][38] It called for a defeat of British troops inIraq andAfghanistan and a movement of direct action and non-cooperation among British working people in order to exert political influence.[39] It was one of many anti-war parties which opposedNATO actions inLibya and Syria and supported the governments ofMuammar Gaddafi andBashar al-Assad.[citation needed]
In 2011, the CPGB-ML party chairman Harpal Brar visited Libya during the war to express solidarity with the Libyan people in their fight againstNATO.[40] The CPGB-ML had joined theStop the War Coalition shortly after the party's formation in 2004, but was ultimately expelled from the coalition. The CPGB-ML said that this was due to its attacks on the STWC leadership's positions on Libya and Syria, which it characterised as "pro-imperialist".[41]
The CPGB-ML's foreign policy stance includes the defence of the legacy of the late ousted President of Zimbabwe,Robert Mugabe.[42]
The CPGB-ML also supports the government of North Korea and what it called its anti-imperialist stance in April 2013, as well as its opposition to Western efforts to discourage the state from acquiring nuclear weapons.[43][44]
The CPGB-ML has shown support for theyellow vests movement, which it perceives as a grass-roots working-class movement opposed to capitalism and theEuropean Union.[45] In a similar vein, the party supported theCanada convoy protest in late 2021.[46]
The CPGB-ML regards the2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine as adefensive war against "state-sanctioned neo-Nazis"[47] and the "spread of Western hegemony".[48]
The CPGB-ML did not condemn the2011 England riots, but instead characterised them as a rudimentary form of anti-capitalist resistance that lacked adequate leadership and direction.[49] The CPGB-ML is opposed to immigration controls, which it holds are measures to misdirect workers and blame each other for the crisis rather than thebourgeoisie.[50]
At its 8th congress in September 2018, the party adopted a motion opposing "discrimination on grounds of race, sex orsexual proclivity" but condemning "identity politics, includingLGBT ideology" as "reactionary and anti-working class", and declaring members promoting what they define as identity politics liable to expulsion.[51] The CPGB-ML have described identity politics as a "reactionary nightmare" imposed by the bourgeoisie.[52] This had led to allegations oftransphobia by other organisations belonging to the British left.[53] "While being totally opposed to discrimination on grounds of race, sex or sexual proclivity, this congress declares that obsession with identity politics, including sexual politics, is anti-Marxian.
Congress therefore resolves that the propagation of identity politics, including LGBT ideology, being reactionary and anti-working class and a harmful distraction and diversion from the class struggle of the proletariat for its social emancipation, is incompatible with membership of the party, rendering those involved in its promotion liable to expulsion."
The CPGB-ML is involved in a number of British political movements such as Palestinian solidarity,[54]anti-austerity,[55]anti-war,[56]anti-Maidan,[57] and opposed to the use ofdrone strikes by the US and NATO against civilians.
The CPGB-ML holds three annual events:
The party was known for being the only party to carry a banner of Joseph Stalin, including a quote from Stalin, every year, until 2019, on 1 MayInternational Workers' Day march in London.[60] The quote is fromFoundations of Leninism, a book written by Stalin, saying: "Either place yourself at the mercy of capital, eke out a wretched existence as of old and sink lower and lower, or adopt a new weapon – this is the alternative imperialism puts before the vast masses of the proletariat. Imperialism brings the working class to revolution."[60][61]
The first election fought by party members was the2018 Birmingham city council election. Three member-candidates stood under the registered label/sub-party "Birmingham Worker". Their best result was in theBalsall Heath West ward with 6.1% of the vote and third place, ahead of localGreens and theConservatives. In the Brandwood & King's Heath and Stirchley wards the others gained 0.89% and 1.62%, beating the localTUSC candidate in the former.[62][63]
The CPGB-ML welcomed the founding of theWorkers Party of Britain (WPB) by formerLabour andRespect partyMPGeorge Galloway.[64] Many CPGB-ML members were active in the WPB. The vice-chair of the CPGB-ML Joti Brar, was also the deputy leader of the WPB.[65]
The CPGB-ML has a few members from the early days of the British communist movement and the original CPGB.[66][67]Isabel Crook, wife ofDavid Crook, served as Honorary President before she died in 2023 aged 107. Both were communists who were in Spain during theSpanish Civil War and later went to work forMao Zedong and the Chinese communists.[68][69] Veteran British communistJack Shapiro, a veteran of the anti-revisionist movement and lifelong communist, was a member of the CPGB-ML until his death.[70]
For fourteen years, from the party's founding in 2004 until 2018, the party chairman was the retired university law lecturer, writer and businessman Harpal Brar. The party's vice-chairman and international secretary wasElla Rule, while the party's general secretary wasZane Carpenter.[71] At the 8th party congress in Birmingham in 2018 Harpal Brar stepped down as party chair and was replaced by Ella Rule. Zane Carpenter andJoti Brar became the party's vice chairs.[72]
RussianNational Bolshevik,Beness Aijo, was a member during his time living in London.[73]
Despite not being a member, the socialist politician, writer and broadcasterGeorge Galloway has delivered multiple speeches to CPGB-ML events and conferences.[74]
I am a member of the Marxist Leninist Communist party of Great Britain and our aim is socialism in Britain and elsewhere. We stand for public ownership of the means of production, so this is MI6 [British secret service] starting a campaign against me as part of a wider campaign against the communist movement.
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