Friendship with Vietnam

Andy Brooks and Le Hai Binh

By New Worker correspondent

Andy Brooks held talks with a visiting Vietnamese delegation in London last week. The NCP leader met a delegation from the Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics (HCMA)
at the Vietnamese embassy in Kensington on Wednesday 30th September. The delegation was led by Le Hai Binh, a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam, and the two sides the current situation in Vietnam and the United Kingdom as well the challenges facing the contemporary communist movement around the world.
The Vietnamese delegation met political leaders, academics and representatives of the British government during their week-long stay in Britain. The delegation held talks with the Communist Party of Britain Chairwoman Lorraine Douglas and dons at the University of Oxford including Professor Rebecca Kitteridge, Professor of Practice in Public Policy and Co-Director of the Leadership Programmes at Oxford’s Blavatnik School of Government.
Prof Binh outlined the HCMA’s key functions in research, strategic and policy advice, and training high- and mid-level Party officials, linked to Vietnam’s centenary development goals. He proposed jointly designing certified courses and programmes for Vietnamese officials as well as international learners at the academy.
At a meeting with Oxford University leaders, Professor Alex Betts, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for External Engagement, Sport and Community, expressed readiness to help connect the HCMA with relevant academic units. The delegation proposed joint research, scholar exchanges and visits by Oxford experts to the academy, particularly as Vietnam works towards becoming a developed country by 2045 and prepares to host the APEC economic forum next year.
At the Oxford University Press, Georgina Hoare, the senior manager for Academic Rights and Licensing, discussed opportunities to publish HCMA works, helping bring Vietnamese theoretical research to international readers.
At London’s Chatham House, the Royal Institute of International Affairs, the delegation met
Ben Bland, the Director of the Asia-Pacific Programme, and held discussions on ASEAN’s role, shifts in the global order and development models.
Working sessions with the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), the FCDO Diplomatic Academy and the Vietnam-UK Network also contributed to greater mutual understanding and provided additional reference material for the HCMA’s research.
The visit identified a number of concrete areas for co-operation, laying a foundation for the HCMA to develop specific programmes and plans in the coming period and contribute to improving the quality of Vietnam’s cadre workforce to meet the country’s development requirements.

The Chinese people have stood up…

by New Worker correspondent

These were the words spoken by Mao Zedong at the foundation of the People’s Republic of China on 1st October 1949. And last week NCP leader Andy Brooks joined diplomats, politicians, solidarity workers, business leaders and members of the overseas Chinese community at a reception in London to mark the 77th anniversary of that momentous day.
The Chinese Ambassador, Zheng Zeguang, welcomed over 500 guests at the reception at the Peninsula hotel in Belgravia and Baroness Winterton, a veteran Labour peer in the Burnham government delivered greetings on behalf of the United Kingdom for the celebration and China’s traditional Mid-Autumn festival.
Ambassador Zheng outlined China’s domestic progress and its significant contributions to global development over the past 77 years. Chinese modernisation, he said, has created unprecedented opportunities for the world, advancing global development and prosperity through opening-up and international cooperation. It has also opened new prospects for the development of China-UK relations.
Zheng recalled that the UK was the first major Western country to recognise New China. He emphasised that the partnership serves the interests of both nations and contributes to world peace, stability and development. Since the beginning of this year, new progress has been made in China-UK relations. China stands ready to work closely with the UK to follow through on the common understandings reached by the two countries’ leaders and to achieve further progress. 
Rosie Winterton, who has served as the UK's minister responsible for what London calls the "Asia-Pacific region", highlighted China's development over recent decades and the importance of the UK-China relationship. This "engagement does not mean avoiding difficult issues. It means creating the conditions to discuss them openly and directly" she said stressing the value of co-operation in areas such as climate change as well as in exchanges among students, businesses and people from both countries.
This was followed by an artistic performance by Chinese and British artists that included the dance Held by Love, a piano rendition of A Moonlit Night on the Spring River, and the choir piece Love My China.

The way forward under Burnham

by New Worker correspondent

Comrades and friends spent the best part of the day pondering on the problems of the labour movement at the NCP Party Centre last weekend. Which way forward for the labour movement was the topic for discussion at the seminar opened by NCP National Chair Richard Bos on Sunday morning. Not an easy question to answer was the response from NCP leader Andy Brooks, who followed with a summary of the Party’s electoral policy since its foundation in 1977 and its current position of backing Labour or independent Labour candidates with mass support that was adopted in 2000 to support Ken Livingstone’s successful bid to become Mayor of London. 
Keynote contributions from British Posadist Marie Lynam and Ian Donovan of the Consistent Democrats sparked off a discussion that continued for the rest of the day. Participants, which included online comrades from East Anglia and Scotland, looked at where did the Corbynistas lose their way, the merits or otherwise of George Galloway’s Workers’ Party of Britain and the current position of the new Labour leadership under Andy Burnham,
Needless to say there was no conclusion apart from the general consensus that these forums should continue with the focus again on the problems and challenges that the working class face today in Burnham’s Britain. The New Worker plays its part in that struggle and after a rousing appeal from Richard Bos £117 was collected for the fighting fund!

Vietnam’s day in London

by New Worker correspondent

NCP leader Andy Brooks joined diplomats, politicians and businessmen at a Vietnamese embassy reception at the London Hilton in Park Lane this week. The Vietnamese ambassador, Do Minh Hung, welcomed guests for a celebration to mark the 81st  anniversary of the August Revolution and the national day of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. This was followed by a musical interlude performed by pianists from Vietnam and Poland. One of the pianists, the esteemed Vietnamese virtuoso Tra Nguyen, played one of her own compositions during the piano recital, and others with Tomasz Lis,  an acclaimed London-based Polish concert pianist and chamber musician. They enthralled the audience with their interpretation of pieces by Vietnamese and European composers including Thai Thiu Lien, Chopin, Dvorak, Elgar, Mendelssohn and Mozart. It certainly was a night to remember! 

Building an anti-imperialist movement in Britain!

Alfredo Patallo addresses conference

by New Worker correspondent

After a year of activism and preparation, over 100 people joined the founding conference of the Anti Fascist International's British Chapter at the Bolivar Hall in central London last Saturday.
The Anti Fascist International was launched at a conference in Caracas in November 2024 that was attended by 1,100 delegates from 76 countries. The conference issued the Antifascist Statement of Caracas - For a New World which included a call for “a peaceful solution to the war instigated by the expansionist and warlike machinery of NATO in Ukraine, against the Russian Federation,” and appealed to "all humanist and progressive forces in the world to unite all efforts to preserve the strategic security of all nations and avoid a nuclear conflagration”.
Opening the conference this call was taken up by Alfredo Patallo of the British Chapter who said “the British Chapter of the Anti Fascist International is working together with British parties, and in solidarity with Venezuela after the abduction of Nicolas Maduro and Cilia Flores, to bring pressure on the Labour Party over issues of importance to the Latin American community in Britain. The British Chapter also actively supports the people of Cuba, Palestine and Iran”.
Miriam Palacios, representing P12O (Platform 12 October, marking the date of Columbus' landing in 1492),  said that the Cuban revolution had managed to survive decades of sanctions because “the experience of our Cuban mentality is the backbone of our resistance against imperialism. We know their trickery and their lies, we’ve been experiencing them since 1898. What is needed is one big push by people all over the world to end imperialism and wars once and for all”.
Daniel O’Brien from the CPGB-ML pointed out that Cuba had trained more than 37,000 health professionals from 147 countries free of charge since 1960, including 250 Palestinians.
Professor David Miller spoke about winning his appeal against dismissal by the University of Bristol for alleged antisemitism in 2021, saying he had fought to spread anti-Zionist consciousness throughout Britain, including awareness of Israeli aggression against Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Iran, and its attempts to replace pro-Palestinian governments with pro-Israeli regimes in Latin America, Europe and around the world.
Part of the work of the AFI British Chapter is campaigning against NATO’s proxy war in Ukraine aimed against the Russian Federation – highlighted by Theo Russell, who spoke on behalf of the New Communist Party and the International Ukraine Anti Fascist Solidarity campaign. Theo welcomed the fact that a large Donetsk People’s Republic flag was among the banners on display. He spoke about the war being waged by Britain against Russia which was killing Russian civilians, while the war lobby in Britain claimed that Russia was waging war against Britain and called for welfare cuts to fund more military spending.
The conference consisted of three sessions: on Latin America, the attack on political freedoms and the imperialist drive to war, with other speakers from the Consistent Democrats, the Workers Party, the RCG, the Islamic Human Rights Commission and the SOAS2 campaign.

No British arms for Ukraine!

 By New Worker correspondent

London comrades joined other peace campaigners and anti-fascists outside the Defence Ministry in London last weekend to call on the British government to end all military and economic support for the corrupt Zelensky regime in Kiev and withdraw all British military personnel from Ukraine. The protest picket in Whitehall, the heart of London, was organised by a coalition of anti-fascist and anti-war movements including the NCP, the International Ukraine Anti Fascist Solidarity campaign (IUAFS), No2Nato-No2war and the Workers Party of Britain. The protest, that highlighted the Labour government's hypocrisy, censorship, the waste of billions of pounds, and the rocketing cost of living caused by sanctions, was covered by the Canary, the new left daily as well as a number of international news agencies including the Times of India and the Russian communist (CPRF) YouTube channel.

Fidel at 100: A Centenary of Legacy and Solidarity

Corbyn calls for solidarity

by New Worker correspondent

NCP leader Andy Brooks joined over 200 diplomats, union leaders, parliamentarians, academics, and long-standing friends of Cuba to reflect on Fidel Castro’s  legacy and enduring international solidarity on the anniversary of his birth on 13th August 1926. Mander Hall, at the headquarters of the NEU, the largest education union in Europe, was packed on that Thursday morning last week. By the time the lights dimmed, there wasn't a spare seat left.
The morning opened with a short tribute film tracing Fidel's life, his legacy, the achievements of the Cuban Revolution he led, and the international solidarity he built across the world. Woven through it were brief contributions from doctors, trade unionists, academics, filmmakers, campaigners and politicians, each speaking to what that legacy means in their own corner of society. Some of them had actually known Fidel in person. Friends speaking about a legacy. Friends remembering a man.
Jeremy Corbyn, the leader of the Independent Alliance group in the House of Commons, took the platform next and spoke with real feeling about what Fidel built for every corner of Cuban society and for the cause of international solidarity, then went further, calling on Britain to deepen its solidarity with Cuba at every level, including government to government. Coming from someone who, this March, rode in the Nuestra América aid convoy into Havana and stood inside a cancer hospital struggling to keep its machines running through a blackout, with Richard Burgon MP alongside him, those words carried weight.
The Cuban ambassador, Ismara Vargas Walter, closed the event and the room went still. She took us back to the beginning: a twenty-six-year-old leading the assault on the Moncada barracks, captured, standing alone at his own trial to say the words that outlived every judge in that courtroom: "Condemn me. It does not matter. History will absolve me." Prison. Exile in Mexico. Eighty-two men on a leaking yacht called Granma, scattered on a beach under fire, barely a dozen reaching the Sierra Maestra alive. From that dozen, in under two years, a country and a Revolution.
She reminded us what he did with that victory: over one hundred thousand volunteer teachers, many of them teenagers, walking into the mountains until Cuba could declare itself free of illiteracy. Cuban doctors in Chile and Algeria by 1961 and 1963. Cuban internationalists at Cuito Cuanavale, standing with a nation fighting apartheid — the same struggle Nelson Mandela himself later called a turning point in the liberation of his continent.
And then she brought us to the present: a naval armada in the Caribbean, oil tankers tracked and seized on the high seas, a total fuel blockade, "a profound breach of the equality of states and sovereignty," in her words, not a bilateral dispute. Families cooking over firewood. Blackouts lasting entire days. Eleven thousand children among more than one hundred thousand people waiting for surgeries that cannot be safely scheduled. Survival for a Cuban child with cancer and infant mortality, fallen. "When a hospital in Havana loses power tonight," she said, "it is not the weather. It is policy, arriving exactly as designed."
And still, 300 Palestinian students are training as doctors in Cuba right now, free of charge, because Fidel taught his country that internationalism is a debt paid, not a favour granted. And to be internationalist is to pay our own debt to humanity. 
She thanked the National Education Union for opening Hamilton House's doors to us once again, the 117 MPs who backed this year's Early Day Motion against these illegal unprecedented sanctions, and six decades of the Cuba Solidarity Campaign's unwavering friendship. Fidel is a hundred years old today, she told the room. Cuba is still standing!

Stop arming the Zelensky regime!

by New Worker correspondent

NCP leader Andy Brooks joined fellow anti-fascists demanding an end to British support for the Zelensky regime at a protest picket in London last weekend. Members of seven different organisations joined activists from International Ukraine Anti Fascist Solidarity (IUAFS) in central London to demand that the British government stop sending missiles, shells, tanks, planes and bullets to the racist, corrupt, Bandera-worshipping NATO puppet government in Ukraine. They received a positive welcome from many passers by in Britain's political heart, Whitehall, only hours after a major ceremony marking the King's birthday, with some people even stopping to join the protestors. 
This was probably the largest protest organised by the IUAFS in the nine years since the campaign was launched. We know from many sources that our campaign is becoming more and more widely known throughout Britain, mainly through circulation of photos and videos of the dozens of protests in solidarity with Ukrainian anti fascists in the past. Millions here in Britain have seen videos of the brutal kidnapping of men on the streets of Ukraine's towns and cities, along with the people courageously fighting back against the military recruitment gangs.  
In addition more and more people in Britain are realising that the Zelensky mafia is essentially deeply corrupt and immoral, and that the people of Ukraine – the ones who haven't already left the country – don't support the war against the Russian, Donetsk and Lugansk military forces. 
A flower-laying ceremony also took place at the protest in memory of the 21 young students deliberately murdered by the Ukrainian military in the multiple wave drone attack on the Starobilsk student dormitory. Many of the protesters brought their own home-made placards, one of which declared that the tragic murders in Starobilsk were carried out by NATO's "Coalition of the Killing".
The Zelensky regime is an alliance of big capital and the state bureaucracy, relying on criminal and fascist elements under the political and financial control of the United States.
It is an alliance of neo-Nazis and Ukrainian oligarchs. Vladimir Zelensky's Jewish heritage has not prevented him from allying with the Banderite gangs in Ukraine who use him as a cover to mask their openly fascist ideology.
The Banderas, like the SS in Hitler’s Third Reich, serve as a shock detachment of big business. The only difference is that the Banderites, who worship those who collaborated with the Nazis in the Second World War, refrain from outright anti-Semitism having established a national front with the Ukrainian oligarchy. Banderas tightly control every move of state power, constantly blackmailing it with the threat of a coup while the policy of Ukraine is determined by the US Embassy in Kiev.
International Ukraine Anti-Fascist Solidarity has been campaigning for nine years in solidarity with anti-fascists in Ukraine, thousands of whom have paid with their lives, torture or prison for resisting the regime installed in 2014 with the support of Britain, the USA and the European Union. Its activists have taken part in every protest since 7th October 2023 in solidarity with the people of Palestine and the Gaza Strip.

KFA pickets Foreign Office!

 

by New Worker correspondent

NCP leader Andy Brooks joined other Korean solidarity campaigners outside the Foreign Office in London last weekend to protest against the unjust sanctions imposed by the British government on the Songdowon International Children's Camp in the DPR Korea.
Picketers held placards denouncing the sanctions and demanded that they be rescinded at once in Whitehall on Saturday at the protest called by the Korean Friendship Association (KFA). On the line KFA Chairman  Dermot Hudson stressed that the sanctions against the camp  are totally unfair as it is a children’s camp not a missile base or a nuclear complex. Leaflets denouncing the sanctions were given out while a journalist interviewed Dermot and some of the other protesters.

No British arms for Ukrainian nazis!

by New Worker correspondent

NCP leader Andy Brooks joined other anti-fascist activists protesting  opposite the residence of devoted Zelensky fan Sir Keir Starmer in Whitehall calling for an end to British military, financial and "advisory" support for the Banderite regime in Kiev. While some of those passing by were clearly unhappy to see our protest, many people gave thumbs up signs, and vehicles beeped to show their support. The protest was organised by International Ukraine Anti Fascist Solidarity (IUAFS), which has campaigned since 2017 in solidarity with Ukrainian anti-fascists and democrats, both inside Ukraine and the millions living in exile. With events in Venezuela, Cuba, and of course the horrific American-Israeli aggression against Iran and Lebanon, the ongoing struggle against Azoz-Right Sector repression in Ukraine has been overshadowed, but members of IUAFS are determined to continue their campaign until the Ukrainian people are liberated from the Nazi plague.
And across Western Europe demonstrations were held in support of the Kononovich brothers who led the communist youth movement in Ukraine before their arrest in 2022.
The brothers say their electronic ankle tags, which were attached when they were released from prison to allow the authorities to control their movements, have now been removed at a police station without a court order. While this sounds at first like a benefit, the unofficial removal of their monitors also puts the brothers at increased risk. They are not assigned to any government agency, which means no agency can be held responsible should a “tragic accident” occur.
“We think we’ll disappear somewhere in the recruitment office, or be murdered at a training ground” the brothers said. “Dear comrades, please be vigilant during these tense days! We have information that the Zelensky regime is preparing another charge under Article 111 (treason, life imprisonment) against us; they could put us in prison. Anything could happen; the Zelensky regime will resort to anything, even murder.”
The two brothers were last arrested in 2025 for “conscientious objection” to participation in NATO’s proxy war against Russia.
In March 2022, they were arrested and charged with “acts aimed at seizing state power” as well as the dissemination of “materials calling for the violent overthrow of the government”. They were later transferred from prison to house arrest. 
Mikhail Kononovich was the general secretary of the Ukrainian Komsomol, The Communist Party of Ukraine’s movement. The fascist regime banned both the Communist Party of Ukraine and the Komsomol in 2015 and all their assets were seized in 2022 following the Russian intervention to defend the people of the Donbas.

Hands Off Cuba!

by New Worker correspondent

London comrades joined other protesters  outside the American embassy on Saturday calling for an end to the imperialist blockade of Cuba. The Hands Off Cuba demo was organised by  the British Chapter of the Venezuela-based Anti-Fascist International which the NCP joined last month. New groups and parties are joining the Chapter at the present time like IJAN, the International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, whose supporters came along with their banner for this protest. 
Venezuela has been at the forefront of the construction of an International Anti-Fascist movement which began in 2024. In its resolution of January 2025, the Congress of the Anti-Fascist International expressed its recognition of this effort and stated that, “Venezuela has been a beacon in the global struggle against fascism, imperialism, colonialism, Zionism and all forms of human exploitation and domination, playing a central role in the coordination of international initiatives aimed at building a new world based on justice, unity, peace, solidarity and mutual respect between nations”.

China charts the future!

by New Worker correspondent

Zheng Zeguang opens the seminar

NCP leader Andy Brooks joined social scientists, businessmen and other communists for a seminar at the Chinese embassy in London last week. The participants, which included solidarity campaigners, academics and politicians like Vince Cable, the former Liberal-Democrat leader, all spoke on the importance of the “two sessions” – the annual meetings of China’s highest civic authorities that were held in Beijing last month. 
Chinese ambassador, Zheng Zeguang, opened on the new developments in China and the opportunities it gave to the world that was the theme of the symposium and the discussion that followed.
He said that in the international arena unilateralism and bullying are on the rise, regional conflicts persist, and the international order is facing serious challenges. The more turbulent the world becomes, the greater the need to promote dialogue and co-operation. 
Ambassador Zheng highlighted that the implementation of the current Five-Year Plan will bring new opportunities for the development of other countries and open up new prospects for China-UK cooperation. China will work with the UK in the same direction to follow through on the important common understanding reached between the leaders of the two countries and the outcome of Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s visit to China. It is important that China and the UK strengthen exchanges at all levels, expand practical cooperation, properly manage differences, and continue to enrich the long-term and consistent comprehensive strategic partnership, in order to deliver greater benefits to the two peoples and make due contributions to world peace, stability and prosperity.
In his contribution Andy Brooks said “This has been a stormy month. While the millions upon millions of people in all five continents recoiled in shock and horror at the American-Israeli onslaught on Iran plunging the Middle East into the flames of a war that threatens the entire stability of the world another event – in the heart of China – charted the future not only for the Chinese people but for the cause of peace and socialism throughout the world.
“The Chinese revolution that established the people’s government in 1949 has transformed the country that was then the poorest in the world. China has now risen from being a weak semi-feudal, semi-colonial country to becoming a force for peace in the global arena, with the second largest economy in the world. Productivity gains, innovation and consumption need have become the main drivers of growth.  As a major manufacturing country, China's manufacturing, innovation and construction will continue to serve the world during the 15th Five-Year Plan period. As China transforms it shares what it has learned from managing large transitions at scale with other developing countries facing similar development challenges. And the communist party which led and continues to lead the Chinese people’s march to socialism equally is always ready to share its knowledge and experience with the rest of the communist movement around the world.
“Democracy is a shared value of humanity and a right of the people of all countries. In China a prosperous society is being created for everyone to enjoy.  And people’s democracy is an instrument to solve problems for the people who are the masters of the country. We see it in the Two Sessions and in the words and deeds of the Communist Party of China”.

Salute to Marx!

by New Worker correspondent

Andy Brooks' tribute to Marx

Last weekend friends old and new, including diplomats from the Chinese and Cuban embassies, gathered at a reception at the NCP Party Centre in London to remember the life and times of Karl Marx, who died in London on 14 March 1883.
MC’d by NCP National Chairman, Richard Bos, guests paused for the formal part of the social to hear a number of speakers pay tribute to Karl Marx and Frederick Engels, the founders of the modern communist movement.
.The immense contribution that Marx and Engels made in the struggle for the emancipation of the working class can never be forgotten said Andy Brooks, the NCP leader whose sentiments were echoed by Michael Chant from the RCPB (ML) and  a member of the Metropolitan Cell & Supporters Group – as well as Dermot Hudson of the Korean Friendship Association and Theo Russell from International Ukraine Anti-Fascist Solidarity who also spoke about the work of their campaigns.
 And finally as no NCP event can ever end without a collection for the New Worker fighting fund Richard made the appeal which raised £200 for our communist weekly.

Free Mikhail and Alexander Kononovich!

by Theo Russell

Last Friday the Kononovich brothers Alexander and Mikhail, joined comrades from across Europe at an online meeting organised by the Turkish-based Anti Imperialist Front.
The brothers, members of the Leninist Communist Youth of Ukraine and ethnic Belarusians from the West Ukrainian Volhynia region, were arrested on 7th March 2022 and tortured in a Kiev detention centre. At that time the NATO puppet president Zelensky banned every opposition party in Ukraine. On 5th July 2022 the Communist Party of Ukraine was permanently banned, with all of its assets seized.
They are currently under house arrest and wearing ankle tags, and the case against them is still going through the courts. They explained that while the government had failed to provide credible evidence against the brothers, they are hoping to stop the case as soon as possible and then send them straight to the front line of the war.
Mikhail Kononovich told the meeting that "the Kiev regime knows we are not guilty and is trying to end our court case in any way possible. When it was opened they thought we would agree to confess our guilt, they thought they could break us, but we are communists, so it didn't work out like that. And the main thing is that they underestimated the level of international support we received.
"Their aim now is to end the case as quickly as possible and then send us immediately to the front line of the war.
"We know that thousands of comrades are fighting for us, and it's not possible for us to betray them. We have families, we have children, and we don't want to die, we're not idiots, but it's better to die than to betray all of you".
Less than three weeks ago Alexander was kidnapped outside the courthouse and sent to a military recruitment centre. He was only saved from being sent to the front because Mikhail had a phone and sent a message to international supporters. He compared the situation in Ukraine with that of Chile after the 1973 Pinochet coup.
Such kidnappings have occurred ever since the 2014 coup, with police standing by and judges cowered by death threats from the Nazi gangs. The brothers are currently under house arrest and wearing GPS ankle bracelets.
The meeting also discussed the possibility of the brothers being sent to serve their sentences in an EU state on the basis that the Kiev regime can't guarantee their safety. They said this had actually happened to some other defendants from Ukraine.
It was agreed at the meeting to hold an emergency protest at Ukrainian embassies around the world, including Russia, Belarus, Lithuania, Latvia, Serbia, Greece, Germany, and Britain, and a further protest on Saturday 4th April.

The eternal memory of Marx

Italian comrades at the oration

by New Worker correspondent

Marx died in his study in London on 14 March 1883 and was buried in Highgate Cemetery. To commemorate his passing the Marx Memorial Library has for many decades held an annual graveside oration at his tomb at the Cemetery in north London. And this year London communists joined other comrades and friends, including the ambassadors of People’s China, Cuba, Laos and Vietnam, at his graveside last Sunday. 
Karl Marx, together with Friedrich Engels, wrote the Communist Manifesto and laid the foundations of modern scientific socialism. The immense contribution that Marx and Engels made in the struggle for the emancipation of the working class can never be forgotten.
After a life-time of struggle to build the revolutionary movement Marx passed away in London at the age of 64. "Marx was before all else a revolutionist” Engels said. “His real mission in life was to contribute, in one way or another, to the overthrow of capitalist society and of the state institutions which it had brought into being, to contribute to the liberation of the modern proletariat, which he was the first to make conscious of its own position and its needs, conscious of the conditions of its emancipation. Fighting was his element. And he fought with a passion, a tenacity and a success such as few could rival”.
Karl Marx was buried in the same grave as his wife in Highgate Cemetery; it was marked with a simple headstone in accordance with Marx's wishes. In 1954 the grave was moved to a better position and it was decided to commission a more impressive tomb. The current monument, a bronze head atop a granite plinth, was designed and made by Laurence Bradshaw who was commissioned by the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB). It was unveiled by Harry Pollitt, the General Secretary of the CPGB, in 1956.
The Marx Memorial Library is the trustee of the Marx monument in the cemetery and the event is organised by the Library, which was opened in 1933 with the aim of advancing education, knowledge and learning in all aspects of the science of Marxism, the history of socialism and the working class movement.

Stop the bombing now!

London comrades at the march

by Ed Newman

Angry protesters marched on the American embassy in London last weekend demanding an end to US-Israeli strikes on Iran. The march was organised by a coalition of groups, including Hands off Iran, the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Stop the War, the Muslim Association of Britain, the Palestinian Forum in Britain and CND.
The organisers said more than 50,000 demonstrators marched from Millbank to the US embassy in Vauxhall on Saturday afternoon. It cames on the eighth day of the US-Israeli attack on Iran, shortly after President Donald Trump said the US would hit Iran “very hard” in the coming days.
Protesters were heard chanting “stop the bombing now, now, now” and “Keir Starmer be afraid, we will see you in The Hague”.
Your Party MP Zarah Sultana spoke at the demonstration outside the US embassy, saying “back then [in 2003], we were told that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. We were told that war would bring peace and democracy.
“We were told that the war would protect Iraqis and protect the world, but the truth was very different. And 23 years ago, when we marched against the Iraq war, we were ignored.
“We will not be ignored again, because history proved them right, and today, we raise our voices for peace, for justice and for a world where governments learn the lessons of the past”.
Hours before the march on Saturday morning, US Air Force B-1 Lancer bombers landed at the RAF Fairford base in Gloucestershire, in southern England.
Trump’s War Secretary, Pete Hegseth, said that the USA would use British bases to “dramatically” increase its strikes on Iran. The Starmer government has allowed the Americans to use UK military bases for the purpose of targeting Iranian missile sites.

Radio Havana Cuba

On the road to progress

Xin Changxing

by New Worker correspondent

NCP leader Andy Brooks joined businessmen, diplomats and solidarity activists for an economic briefing on the latest developments in People’s China on Monday. And the meeting room in the Bank of China in the City of London was packed to hear Xin
Changxing, a member of the  Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) give an overview on China’s 15th Five-Year Plan and China’s endeavours to push high-quality development and advance high-standard opening up in the coming years. Xin, who is also the Secretary of the CPC Jiangsu provincial committee, also outlined the developments in Jiangsu, China's second largest provincial economy by GDP. It's also one of the most commercially powerful and export-oriented provinces, supported by advanced manufacturing strengths, efficient logistics, robust innovation capabilities and a deep tech talent pool. Other speakers included Zheng Zeguang the Chinese ambassador, Fang Wenjian, who is the Chairman of the China Chamber of Commerce and general manager of the Bank of China London Branch, as well as Lord Sassoon the President of the China-Britain Business Council, Sir David Quarry the Group Head of Public Affairs HSBC and Peter Bennett, the Chief Executive of the China-Britain Business Council.

New challenges for China

by New Worker correspondent

Zheng Zequang opens the seminar

NCP leader Andy Brooks joined social scientists, businessmen, solidarity workers and other communists for an economic seminar at the Chinese embassy in London last week. 
And the Chinese ambassador, Zheng Zeguang, opened on the new developments in China and the opportunities it gave to the world that was the theme of the symposium and the discussion that followed.
He said China is marching towards the second Centenary Goal – a call to action for the entire country to seize the momentum and advance Chinese modernisation.
With this meeting, the Communist Party of China with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core sets to unite and lead the Chinese people to write yet another chapter on the miracles of rapid economic growth and long-term social stability and to open up new horizons for Chinese modernisation.
China was ready to share opportunities and seek common development with the world. China cannot develop in isolation from the world, while the world cannot prosper without China. While pursuing modernisation, China will strive to safeguard world peace and development.
Zheng pointed out that since last year, under the strategic guidance of the leaders from both China and Britain, positive progress has been made in China-UK relations. But, from time to time, this relationship has also been undermined by anti-China forces. The improvement and development of China-UK relations is in the fundamental interest of people in both countries, and it requires the concerted efforts of both sides.
The UK side should have the right perspective. Those who attack China by touting "China threat" and fabricating lies are ignorant and arrogant. They do not represent the mainstream of the UK, and their attempts are doomed to failure. Both sides should uphold mutual respect and non-interference in each other's internal affairs. The UK must honour its commitment, and properly handle Taiwan-related issues in accordance with the one-China principle. The two sides should commit to mutually-beneficial cooperation, create new highlights of cooperation and bring more benefits to the two peoples.
In his contribution Andy Brooks said “stable growth, stable policies and stable expectations – this is what the people want. China's development follows a clear direction that is taken with confidence and determination...this is China’s answer to Western calls for tariff walls and trade wars. China's approach to development is not about fighting for your own corner but about serving the people for the benefit of the entire world...
“The imperialists think that their guns will ensure that they can ignore the will of the people for as long as they like. But they were proved wrong in the 20th  century and they will be proved wrong today. The days when people listened to the rich men who told us that the greatest virtue of humanity was the possession of the largest amount of money are over...
Everywhere we look in the capitalist world we see unemployment, homelessness, poverty, drug abuse and crime. The symptoms of industrial decline, inflationary pressures, stock market volatility and economic stagnation. This is capitalism. And working people are being made to carry the burden of its failure. But in People’s China working people aren’t simply reacting to global challenges – they are shaping the very future of our world”. 

China: 76 years of progress

traditional Chinese music at the reception

by New Worker correspondent

NCP leader Andy Brooks joined diplomats, businessmen, solidarity campaigners and members of the Chinese community in London to celebrate the 76th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China last week. Over 400 guests gathered at the Peninsula hotel in Belgravia for a reception followed by a musical interlude performed by  artistic troupes including overseas Chinese and international students, as well as embassy staff.
Wang Qi, the Chinese chargé d'affaires of the Chinese Embassy in the UK, delivered a speech highlighting China's achievements in the past years, and extended thanks to people from all walks of life who have long cared for and supported the development of China and bilateral relations.
China had achieved two remarkable miracles: rapid economic growth and sustained social stability, both rare in world history, over the past 76 years. 
In the first half of 2025, China saw the establishment of 30,000 new foreign-invested enterprises, a year-on-year increase of about 12 per cent, with actual foreign capital utilisation exceeding 420 billion yuan.
Wang said that China and the UK, both influential nations, held nine key dialogues this year across areas such as strategy, economy, energy, military, health, artificial intelligence, leadership, climate, and the environment. Both sides should maintain their strategic partnership, respect differences, and pursue win-win cooperation by implementing dialogue outcomes, reducing disruptions, expanding engagement, and deepening mutual benefits to advance China-UK relations.
Seema Malhotra, a Home Office minister, replied speaking highly about the renewed China-UK relationship – spotlighting security, environment, and economic growth as three priorities to shape UK's vision for future China-UK relations, and expressing the Starmer government’s willingness to take the ties forward in a constructive and effective way.
This was followed by a concert given by artistes that included the famed singers Deng Tao and Chen Luhong, violinists from the Yehudi Menuhin School in Surrey, Chinese traditional music, the choir of the Chinese Embassy in the UK and the London Chinese Philharmonic Choir. 

Celebrating China’s victory over fascism

by New Worker correspondent

NCP leader Andy Brooks joined hundreds of music-lovers to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War last week. The Chinese Ambassador Zheng Zeguang and his wife Counsellor Hua Mei were the guests of honour at the Royal College of Music in London’s West End  to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the victory in the Chinese People’s War of Resistance against Japanese aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War.
The event with the theme Honour History for a Better Future was supported by the Chinese Embassy and the Bank of China. And other guests included the Labour peer Lord Davidson and Timothy Hailes, the Lord Mayor Elect of the City of London, along with members of the Chinese community in Britain and representatives of Anglo-Chinese business and cultural bodies.
Ambassador Zheng said that 80 years ago the Chinese people fought heroically, made huge national sacrifices and defeated the Japanese aggressors. The Chinese people and the British people fought shoulder to shoulder as allies, made great contributions to the victory of the World Anti-Fascist War, and helped to establish a new international order. China has always been a peace-loving nation...this concert in London is intended to use music to remember history, honour those who gave their lives for the cause of justice, express an aspiration for world peace, and reaffirm a commitment to building a community with a shared future for humanity.
The concert featured ten pieces of Chinese and Western music presented by the Hunan Provincial Song & Dance Theatre and New Elements Music and guest performances from the London City Orchestra and the Camden Philharmonic.
 It opened with a stirring rendition of Ode to the Red Flag, followed by classics from both countries, including the haunting theme from Schindler's List and Elgar’s Nimrod which is traditionally played on Remembrance Day in the UK. Chinese favourites included Defend the Yellow River and My Motherland performed by the Chinese Embassy Choir, the Bank of China London Branch Choir, and the London Chinese Philharmonic Choir. The Chinese spirit of resistance and love for their motherland conveyed in the two songs resonated deeply with the audience, who responded with prolonged applause and acclaim.