What are our policies?

The 'New Communist Party' (NCP) -- officially the 'New Communist Party of Britain' (NCPB) -- was founded in July 1977 by former members of the 'Commmunist Party of Great Britain' who had come to regard that party as 'revisionist'. The report of the party's 1997 Congress speaks of "the old revisionist Communist Party of Great Britain which we parted company with in 1977". (New Communist Party: Documents of the 11th National Congress; London; 1997; p.26).

 

Thus, the 'New Communist Party' was formed as an anti-revisionist move.

The party's 1997 Congress report speaks of ". . . the revisionist 'British Road to Socialism" which we rejected in 1977. (New Communist Party: Documents of the 11th National Congress; London; 1997; p.26).

 

Since the 1980s, the party has regarded the basis of modern revisionism as having been laid down at the 20th Congress of the CPSU in 1956: "The basis of post-war revisionism was laid down at the 20th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU)". < (New Communist Party: Documents of the 11th National Congress; London; 1997; p.26).

 

The attack upon Stalin made by Khrushchev at this congress was basically false anti-communist propaganda: "The vicious personal attack on Stalin by Nikita Khrushchev . . . opened the door to Trotskyite ideas which, until then, were confined to small groups drawn from the middle strata. . . . In the international communist movement. . . . it reinforced the tendency towards accepting the social-democratic strategies and attitudes".< (New Communist Party: Documents of the 11th National Congress; London; 1997; p.26).

 

The party holds that after Stalin's death, ". . . revisionist and corrupt elements who had wormed their way into the leadership began by attacking Stalin's record and then moved to attack what had been built during his leadership. They paved the way for hidden traitors to rise to top and lead 'the counter-revolution which destroyed the Soviet Union in 1990". (Andy Brooks: 'Stalin', in: 'New Worker',No. 1,130 (22 December 2000; p. 7). 

 

The party rejects as revisionist deception the concept of a parliamentary road to socialism, as put forward in the CPGB's 'British Road to Socialism': "Unlike the revisionists and ultra-leftists, we spurn the 'parliamentary road' and electoral politics. . . . Working people have never achieved state power through elections. Social-democracy has never led to socialism and revisionism has only led to the destruction of communist parties, counter-revolution and the destruction of socialist states". (New Communist Party: Documents of the 12th National Congress; London; 1997; p.26).

 

The NCP takes its stand on the necessity for the working class to smash the machinery of the capitalist state and establish the political power of the working class, the 'dictatorship of the proletariat'. It upholds ". . . the necessity for the working class to smash the capitalist state machine and take power itself, in order to exercise. what he (Lenin-- Ed.) called the dictatorship of the proletariat".

(Eric Trevett: Opening Speech at 12th National Congress of the NCPB, in: 'Documents of the 12th National Congress of the NCPB; p. 9). 

In the field of foreign affairs, the party regards China, Cuba, DPR Korea, Laos and Vietnam as socialist states: "People's China, Democratic Korea, Vietnam, Laos and Cuba continue to advance along the revolutionary path charted by their communist parties, which are applying the principles of Marxism-Leninism to the concrete conditions that exist in their countries." (New Communist Party: Documents of the 12th National Congress; London; 1997; p.15,16).

 

The party regards Scotland and Wales as nations entitled to self-determination: "The New Communist Party . . . has long recognised the rights of the Scottish and Welsh nations to full national self-determination." (New Communist Party: Documents of the 12th National Congress; London; 1997; p.34). 

 The NCP opposes Britain's membership of the European Union: "The New Communist Party has always opposed the European Union. The New Communist Party's opposition is founded on the principle that it is a strategy designed to further strengthen monopoly capitalism in Europe on a supra-national basis". (New Communist Party: Documents of the 11th National Congress; London; 1997; p. 10).

 

The party stands for the withdrawal of British troops from Northern Ireland and supports the ". . . struggle for Irish national independence and self-determination. The NCP demands a united sovereign Ireland free from all outside interference. . . . The NCP acknowledges the role of Sinn Fein as the vanguard force in the struggle for national liberation". (New Communist Party: Documents of the 12th National Congress; London; 1997; p.32, p.34).

 

The Party opposed all imperialist aggression against Argentina, Yugoslavia, Iraq, Libya and Syria. It fully supports the restoration of the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people.

 

The NCP favours co-operation between parties and organisations which regard themselves as 'Marxist-Leninist' on issues on which they are in agreement: "We have always recognised that there is the possibility of co-operation on certain issues, such as peace, anti-racism or the wages struggle with these parties and others which have sprung from the British communist movement. There is certainly the need to exchange views with all of them on a regular basis. . . . Our own proposals for a communist round table are . . . for a communist liaison committee which would allow for the regular exchanges of information and views between the various communist parties in Britain at a leadership level. It would be a non-voting, non-executive body". (New Communist Party: Documents of the 12th National Congress; London; 1997; p.35).

 

The NCP advises working people to boycott European elections, but, in general, to vote Labour in national and local elections: "We are advocating a boycott of European Elections. We should continue to vote Labour everywhere in general and local elections. . . . In certain circumstances we should consider voting for unofficial candidates".

(Eric Trevett: Opening Speech at 12th National Congress, in: Documents of the 12th National Congress; p. 28). 

The NCP opposes proportional representation:: "Proportional representation . . . is the chosen method of the European ruling class for disarming and splitting working class parties into small factions while encouraging opportunism and patronage at every level. . . . Its elevation now is designed to further weaken the Labour Party and create the conditions for continuous right-wing led coalitions of smaller parties. . . . Working people have nothing to gain from proportional representation Its introduction will lead to greater Liberal Democrat representation at the expense of the Labour Party, while reinforcing the idea amongst the masses of a 'democratic' parliament. It encourages the false hope amongst the revisionists and Trotskyites of the creation of a parliamentary 'left' alternative to Labour. It will certainly increase the likelihood of the entry into Parliament of racist and fascist parties effectively excluded by the current system". (New Communist Party: Documents of the 12th National Congress; London; 1997; p.31).

 

The New Communist Party does not stand candidates in elections and calls on its supporters to vote Labour (New Communist Party: Documents of the 15th National Congress; London; 2006.). 

The Party is an affiliate of the Labour Representation Committee.

 

The New Communist Party publishes the NEW WORKER weekly. Despite political differences with the Morning Star, the party regards this daily newspaper as a broad daily newspaper of the left, which should be read and supported in spite of its revisionist political line.

The General Secretary of the NCP is Andy Brooks.

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We are the New Communist Party

 This is what we stand for:

We stand for Peace: An end to our armies invading other countries like Afghanistan and Iraq; an end to wasting billions on nuclear weapons like Trident.

We stand for socialism: The western world is governed by the rich and powerful – the giant banks and businesses and landowners. We say it should be governed by the workers – the masses who spend their lives creating wealth for others but receive so little of it in return.

We stand for revolution: The rich and powerful are not going to hand over their power and wealth easily. Elections are not enough to dislodge them; we need to change the whole system from top to bottom. Our class must defeat theirs and bring about a true working class democracy. Capitalism is a crazy system that worships money and oppresses millions of workers. It is unstable and threatens the future of humanity. It must be brought down.

We stand for working class unity: The ruling class has many weapons but we have the power of vast numbers on our side. And when we stop doing their bidding, when we go on strike, suddenly they have very little. We must unite. We must educate, agitate and above all organise and work within the labour movement structure to build unity and confidence for the fight ahead. We must not be divided by racism, sexism or any other prejudice and we must stand by those who all workers face prejudice and discrimination. An injury to one is an injury to all!

We fight for higher wages: Wages should be big enough to support each worker and their dependants in a decent standard of living without having to go into the misery of debt or exhausting overtime.

We fight for freedom from debt: Personal debt – mortgages, credit cards, banks loans and so on – are a source of misery, stress and mental illness, forcing people to work long, long hours, to neglect themselves and their families just to feed bank profits.

We fight for a shorter working week: Modern technology and machinery allows enormous amounts of work to be done quickly. Workers should benefit from this by not having to work so long. Workers who are relaxed and refreshed perform better. We are all entitled to rest and leisure.

We fight for decent pensions: People who have worked hard all their lives are entitled to a comfortable, stress-free retirement. They should not be pressured by money worries into working long into their old age.

We fight for decent housing: When we have worked hard for our wages we do not want to be handing half of them over week after week to a landlord who has done nothing to deserve them. We fight against private landlordism and demand decent, secure council housing for all who need it. Homelessness and fear of homelessness are evils that have no place in a civilised society.

We fight for decent education: Our society should treasure all its children and young people. They need to be taught that they are valued; to value and respect themselves and others. Schools should have enough well trained teachers to stretch children’s abilities so they learn to overcome problems and enjoy being in the world. Children need more time and attention from adults: their parents, grandparents, schoolteachers, youth workers and so on

Grenfell victims still homeless!

By New Worker correspondent

Kensington & Chelsea council is now infamous for the Grenfell Tower fire in June 2017 that caused 72 deaths, though many believe the real death toll is much higher. And one year later some of those who lost their homes have still not been rehoused. Although 133 council properties are vacant, 98 of the 204 Grenfell Tower Fire survivors are still waiting to be rehoused. But council homes are lying empty because apparently they are in a poor state of repair.

Alex Diner, policy officer at the North Kensington Law Centre, said: “Some survivors still remain without a home of their own, and the council has accepted that a significant number of other households affected by the disaster are not likely to have their housing needs met potentially for years.

“These vacant properties could be vital to rehousing Grenfell survivors and those whose lives have been changed forever by the disaster. The council must therefore urgently get a grip on its vacant housing stock and bring it up to standard to address the chronic housing need in the borough.”

Labour Shadow Housing Minister, John Healy, said: “It is shameful that council homes sit empty while fewer than half of the families who survived the Grenfell Tower fire have been rehoused, more than a year on from the fire.

“Government ministers could and should have taken over this failing council but have chosen not to.

“What was a national disaster is becoming a national disgrace and the Government must now step in to ensure all survivors have permanent homes so they can start to rebuild their lives.”

Kensington & Chelsea is a hard-line Tory council that was very enthusiastic about pushing privatisation and dodgy ‘arm’s length management organisations’ and TMOs (so-called tenants management organisation), one of which was responsible for managing Grenfell Tower. The failure to rehouse the Grenfell Tower residents and the fact that the fire occurred in the first place shows that such policies are corrupt and a blatant failure. The needs of the people cannot be met by such policies nor by capitalism in general.

This borough exemplifies the contradictions of capitalism. It is one of the richest boroughs in London and one of the wealthiest areas in the country. The average house price is  £4.3 million and average incomes are over £1,000 per week. But according to Shelter, the homeless charity, one in every seven families living in Kensington & Chelsea  – or 1,441 families out of 10,705 – are technically homeless in the borough. This shows how rotten capitalism is.

Fascists attack union leader at London demo

By New Worker correspondent

Fascist thugs launched a surprise attack on a group of railway workers outside a pub following a racist demonstration in central London last weekend. Although they were mob-handed the attackers got back twice what they gave, despite the advantage of surprise and numbers. But Steve Hedley, the deputy leader of the RMT transport union, suffered a head injury when he was glassed during the fighting.

This unprovoked attack by supporters of jailed English Defence League (EDL) leader Tommy Robinson and US president Donald Trump came at the end of a day of violence which, amongst other things, saw the blockading of a London bus by EDL supporters because the driver was a Muslim woman wearing a headscarf.

The EDL had called a ‘Free Tommy’ rally in support of their jailed leader Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, who calls himself Tommy Robinson. Robinson was sentenced last May to 13 months' imprisonment after pleading guilty to contempt of court. Their numbers were easily dwarfed by the size of the anti-Trump demo the previous day, which police put at 250,000 but was easily well over that number.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn was greeted with cheers as he spoke at the huge anti-Trump rally in Trafalgar Square. He told protesters to “build bridges, not walls” and said that they were showing their “love for democracy, diversity unity and hope” by being there.

“We’re asserting our right to demonstrate, our right to free speech, and our right to want a world that is not divided by misogyny, racism and hate,” Corbyn declared.

Steve Hedley had earlier addressed a counter-protest to the EDL rally in support of Trump and Robinson, and this is probably why he was singled out when the racist thugs went on their rampage. The railway workers were attacked because they are trade unionists, anti-fascists and left wingers, and because the RMT had played a prominent role in the counter-demo against the far right. It was an organised and targeted attack that happened in an area which was full of police.

Speaking on social media with blood still visible on his head, Hedley said: "We got attacked by a load of thugs, completely unprovoked,” adding that: “If you oppose Tommy you get attacked by a glass and a chair – we have to stop this.”

What this goes to prove is that the EDL is a fascist organisation with a classic fascist agenda. The EDL like to portray themselves as working-class English patriots and fighters for “English values” against the alleged or perceived “Islamisation of Britain”. But by attacking a leader of one of the country’s most militant trade unions they showed that they are opposed to working peoples’ organisations and the right of workers to organise themselves. The EDL are little more than a gang of degenerate football hooligans who are being directed by the shadowy fascist forces that always come to the fore whenever there’s an upsurge of militancy amongst the organised working class.

The police said that a total of 12 people were arrested: eight men on suspicion of assault at Storey's Gate in Westminster, two men on suspicion of public order offences, one man on suspicion of violent disorder and another man on suspicion of fireworks offences.

Steve Hedley’s partner, Bridget, who was held for 10 hours by the cops, was badly bruised in the fighting and was taken back to hospital with breathing difficulties on Monday.

As Hedley put it: “We in the RMT who were attacked by fascist thugs yesterday were not victims. We defended ourselves very well, beating off a larger group. We are not afraid and will be out next time in greater numbers to oppose them. No Pasaran!”