For peace on the Korean peninsula

the seminar in the Sid French Library

by New Worker correspondent

Korean solidarity campaigners met at the NCP’s Party Centre in London last weekend for a seminar to discuss the prospects for peace on the Korean peninsula and the way forward for the solidarity campaign in Britain.
    NCP leader Andy Brooks, who chaired the Friends of Korea event, welcomed everyone to the meeting which was the first public event at the Centre since the lockdowns began in 2020. Most of them had visited Democratic Korea and all were supporters of the Friends of Korea committee that has been campaigning for the peaceful re-unification of the Korean peninsula for over 20 years.
    This was stressed by Michael Chant, the secretary of the Committee, who emphasised the importance of taking a stand in support of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s right to exist and choose its own path of development, striving for peace and for the reunification of the Korean peninsula, and, as he said, “supporting the just stands of the DPRK internationally at this crucial time in the face of hostility from the United States and other big powers, including Britain”.
    Though the imperialists have toned down their hate campaign their hostility still remains. “At the moment the imperialist mainstream media have tended to take the DPRK out of the news “ Dermot Hudson from the Korean Friendship Association said “although the hostile propaganda against the DPRK continues. Recently , the DPRK tested missiles which would have once led to hysterical headlines in the imperialist media for days on end. But this time it did not do so . This is because the imperialists have experienced a policy failure on the Korean peninsula ; military pressure and threats have not worked, sanctions have not worked and engagement such as Trump’s ‘big deal ‘ have not worked. The imperialist media does not like to talk about failure only success”.
    Others shared their own views on the Korean issue including Keith Bennett, a veteran Korean solidarity campaigner, who helped draw up the Friends of Korea founding statement many years ago and everyone agreed on the need to redouble our efforts in the coming year.
    The Co-ordinating Committee of the Friends of Korea is an umbrella organisation which brings together all the major movements active in Korean friendship and solidarity work in Britain today. It includes the NCP and the RCPB (ML), the Socialist Labour Party and the Korean Friendship Association. The Committee is chaired by Andy Brooks and the secretary is Michael Chant. The committee organises meetings throughout the year, which are publicised by the supporting movements and on the Friends of Korea blog.

Scargill call to Leave Now!

Scargill calls to Leave!

By New Worker correspondent

 

London comrades joined supporters of the Socialist Labour Party (SLP) this week to hear Arthur Scargill call for a massive campaign to ensure that Britain leaves the European Union. The SLP leader, who led the miners in their fight to save the coal industry back in the 1980s, shared a platform that included Prof Takis Fotopoulos, two militant members of RMT and the leader of the SLP group on Hartlepool council, at a meeting in Hamilton House in central London on Tuesday.

            Eddie Dempsey from the RMT spoke about the neo-liberal agenda to privatise the railways throughout the European Union while Alex Gordon outlined the aims of LeFT, the Leave, Fight, Transform campaign –  a grassroots network of socialists and trade unionists launched by the CPB with the support of the Socialist Labour Party and members of the RMT earlier in the year.

            But most had come to hear Scargill who drew on his years of campaigning against the Common Market inside and outside the Labour Party to argue for the “no deal” Brexit millions of us thought we had voted for in the 2016 referendum.

The veteran campaigner called for a return to Labour’s traditional values of the public ownership of key industries and utilities that were dumped by the Blairites in the 1990s.

Communists share Scargill’s distrust of the Remainers in the Corbyn leadership. We would naturally disagree with his call on workers to only vote for Leave candidates at the next election – which opens the door to support for Tory Brexiteers and Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party. But his final call for a mass movement to stop the Remainers and ensure that Britain leaves the European Union is one that everyone can close ranks around.

Marx – thinker and revolutionary

 

Andy Brooks with comrades at the reception

by New Worker 

correspondent

Karl Marx died in London on 14^th March 1883 and his passing is marked by a number of ceremonies including the annual address at Marx’s tomb in Highgate Cemetery and the New Communist Party’s more modest annual reception at the Party Centre in Battersea last week.

Our numbers were down due to sickness and transport problems as NCP leader Andy Brooks explained during the formal part of the proceedings. National Chair Alex Kempshall was in hospital recovering from major surgery and a number of other comrades had sent in their apologies.

This year marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of Karl Marx who 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 Andy said and this was taken up by all the speakers that followed.

But the tributes began on a sombre note when comrades rose for a minute’s silence in memory of Neil Harris, who passed away at the beginning of the month after a long illness. This was followed by solidarity greetings from Dermot Hudson from the Korean Friendship Association and John Macleod from the Socialist Labour Party.

There was plenty of good food and drink for all, and £130 was raised for the New Worker following the appeal by Daphne Liddle.

Honouring Karl Marx – and Ray Jones

Ray receiving his award

 By New Worker correspondent

THE NEW Communist Party  held its annual homage to Karl Marx on the anniversary of his death on Saturday 12th March  – and honoured Ray Jones, head printer of the [New Worker] from its foundation in 1977 to 2015 – with a short gap in the 1980s.

And he still does the lay-out of the paper by remote control from his new home in North Wales. Ray was presented with a bust of Lenin.

Speakers at the social event included John Macleod from the Socialist Labour Party, Marie Lynam from the British Posadist group and Dermot Hudson, representing the Korean Friendship Association.

There was plenty of good food and drink for all and a collection for the New Worker raised £113.