Socialist Appeal (UK, 1992)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Revolutionary Communist Party
FoundedApril 1992
Split fromMilitant tendency
Preceded bySocialist Appeal
NewspaperThe Communist
Youth wingMarxist Student Federation
Membership1,200[1]
Ideology
International affiliation
Party flag
Website
communist.red Edit this at Wikidata
Part of a series on
Socialism in
the United Kingdom
Ideologies
Principles
Intellectuals
Works
History
Political figures
Parties
(Current UK parties - Defunct UK parties)

Social democracy

Socialism

Communism

Northern Ireland

Scotland

Wales

Organisations
UK Trade unions

Other

Media
Related topics

The Revolutionary Communist Party (RCP) (formerly Socialist Appeal) is a communist political party in Britain, and the British section of the International Marxist Tendency (IMT). The party was founded as Socialist Appeal in 1992 alongside the IMT by supporters of Ted Grant and Alan Woods after they were expelled from the Militant tendency of the Labour Party.[2] The organisation relaunched itself in May 2024 as the Revolutionary Communist Party.[3]

The Party's aim is to "[organise] the most resolute, class-conscious workers and youth in the fight for a communist future – one in which society is ran by and for ordinary people, not a handful of super-rich-parasites."[4] It described its politics as descending from Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels, Vladimir Lenin and Leon Trotsky.[5]

From 21 January 2024, the Party began publishing its fortnightly newspaper The Communist which was a merger of Socialist Appeal and the Scottish IMT newspaper, Revolution.[6] The organisation also produces books, pamphlets, magazines and other Marxist educational material, sold through the Wellred Books Britain bookstore, which it operates.[7]

In 2013, the Party officially launched its youth wing, the Marxist Student Federation (MSF), to provide a "national platform for Marxist ideas in the student movement."[8] As of 2022, the MSF claims a presence at over 50 campuses across Britain,[9] focused on political discussions at university Marxist societies, as well as campaigning within the labour movement.[10]

At present, the Party claims to have 1,200 members spread across over 100 local branches.[11]

History[edit]

Main article: Militant tendency
Socialist Appeal and Marxist Student Federation activists at a climate change march in 2021.

In the 1970s and 1980s, the RCP's predecessor, the Militant tendency, had been a significant force within the British Labour Party.[12] At the height of its influence in the mid-to-late 1980s, Militant had three Labour MPs, control of Liverpool City Council and later initiated the campaign that they claim forced the abandonment of the Poll tax.[13][14] Grant had been one of the founders[15] and the theoretical leader of the Militant group, but he was expelled with other supporters after the 1991 debate on the Open Turn.[16]

The split was caused by what Grant and Woods claimed was the bureaucratic centralist degeneration of Militant's internal regime, as well as Grant's continued support for the tactic of entryism within the Labour Party.[17][18]

Socialist Appeal began publishing their own journal in 1992. In 2000, the group was estimated to have around 250 supporters.[19]

In 2013, the tendency in Britain made a turn towards the student movement by launching the Marxist Student Federation.[8]

Following the Scottish independence referendum in which Scots voted to retain the union with the rest of the United Kingdom, the International Marxist Tendency launched a separate Scottish periodical called Revolution, which analysed events in Scotland, and put forward a Marxist position in relation to the Scottish independence movement. Revolution's masthead carries the slogan "For a Scottish workers' republic and world socialist revolution!".[20]

In July 2021, the Labour Party's National Executive Committee banned Socialist Appeal and ruled that its members could be automatically expelled from the Labour Party.[21][22]

On 14 November 2023, Socialist Appeal announced that they and the IMT in Scotland were to be refounded as the Revolutionary Communist Party, and that the newspaper would be renamed The Communist, beginning on 21 January 2024, the 100th anniversary of the death of Vladimir Lenin. The founding congress of the party, attended by 600 delegates and visitors, took place in May 2024. The congress resolved to campaign towards 10,000 members in Britain. [23]

The RCP has recently drawn criticism for its controversial campaign to kick Tory MP Jacob Rees-Mogg off Cardiff University campus, in opposition to his alleged support for British and Israeli imperialism.[24] In its defence, the Party claimed that “Rees-Mogg has the BBC, GB News, where he is a regular, he has all the mainstream newspapers so the idea that his right to express his views is curtailed by the occasional protest is laughable... It is the right to free speech of ordinary working-class people that is constantly curtailed.”[25]

Publications[edit]

The Communist refers to the fortnightly newspaper of the RCP. From 1992-2024, the group's newspaper was called Socialist Appeal.

The Party also produced and published a number of pamphlets and books through their Wellred Books publishing arm.[26]

Socialist Appeal was also the name of two British Trotskyist newspapers associated with Ted Grant in the 1940s: one was the newspaper of the Workers International League and immediately following that of the Revolutionary Communist Party.[27]

International Marxist Tendency[edit]

Main article: International Marxist Tendency

The international group to which the RCP is affiliated is known as the International Marxist Tendency. In Latin America, it supported President of Venezuela's Hugo Chávez’s Bolivarian Revolution and the IMT instigated the formation of the Hands Off Venezuela campaign group to support Chávez.[28][29]

The IMT published a number of books by Trotsky, Grant and Woods[26] and runs the multilingual website In Defence of Marxism.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/politics/66095/revolutionary-communists-are-plotting-a-comeback
  2. ^ Wade, Bob (27 July 2006). "Ted Grant: Trotskyite behind the Militant Tendency's infiltration of the Labour party". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 18 October 2023. Retrieved 13 July 2012.
  3. ^ https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/politics/66095/revolutionary-communists-are-plotting-a-comeback
  4. ^ https://communist.red/about-us/
  5. ^ "About us". In Defence of Marxism. Archived from the original on 9 December 2023. Retrieved 13 July 2012.
  6. ^ "Goodbye Revolution, The Communist is Here". Revolution. January 2024. Retrieved 20 February 2024.
  7. ^ "About Us". Wellred Books. Archived from the original on 14 October 2023. Retrieved 1 February 2023.
  8. ^ a b Student, Marxist (4 October 2013). "Marxist Student Federation off to a flying start | Marxist Student Federation". Retrieved 1 February 2023.
  9. ^ "Find your Marxist Society | Marxist Student Federation". 9 September 2013. Archived from the original on 19 June 2023. Retrieved 1 February 2023.
  10. ^ Federation, Marxist Student (8 December 2022). "Marxist Student Federation: The voice of the labour movement on campus". Socialist Appeal. Archived from the original on 1 February 2023. Retrieved 1 February 2023.
  11. ^ https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/politics/66095/revolutionary-communists-are-plotting-a-comeback
  12. ^ Crick, Michael (1986). The March of Militant. London: Faber & Faber. ISBN 9780571146437.
  13. ^ Taaffe, Peter (1995). The Rise of Militant. London: Militant Publications.
  14. ^ Sewell, Rob (18 July 2005). "How the Militant was Built – and How it was Destroyed". In Defence of Marxism. Archived from the original (10 October 2004) on 17 August 2023. Retrieved 13 July 2012.
  15. ^ Grant, Ted (1989). The Unbroken Thread. London: Fortress Books. pp. ix. Archived from the original on 12 November 2023.
  16. ^ McSmith, Andy (9 August 2006). "Ted Grant: Founder of the Trotskyite group Militant Tendency who never abandoned his revolutionary ideals". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 17 April 2023. Retrieved 13 July 2012.
  17. ^ "Against Bureaucratic Centralism". In Defence of Marxism. 18 July 2005. Archived from the original on 12 November 2023. Retrieved 13 July 2012.
  18. ^ Taaffe, Peter (1995). The Rise of Militant. London: Militant Publications. p. 133.
  19. ^ Peter Barberis et al., Encyclopedia of British and Irish Political Organizations, p.519
  20. ^ "Subscribe to Revolution". REVOLUTION. 24 March 2017. Retrieved 4 June 2023.
  21. ^ Mason, Rowena (20 July 2021). "Labour votes to ban four far-left factions that supported Corbyn's leadership". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 22 July 2021. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
  22. ^ Shalev, Asaf (22 July 2021). "UK Labour bans far-left factions in effort to change reputation on antisemitism". Times of Israel. Archived from the original on 22 July 2021. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
  23. ^ https://communist.red/rcp-founding-congress-10000-communists-wanted/
  24. ^ https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/04/27/jacob-rees-mogg-chased-off-campus-pro-palestine-activists/
  25. ^ https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/rees-mogg-protesters-hit-back-labour-criticism
  26. ^ a b "Welcome to Wellred Online Bookshop!". Wellred Books. Retrieved 13 July 2012.
  27. ^ Crick, Michael (1984). Militant. London: Faber & Faber. pp. 34, 38. ISBN 9780571132560.
  28. ^ "Venezuela's economy: Towards state socialism". The Economist. 20 November 2010. Retrieved 13 July 2012.
  29. ^ Yapp, Robin (5 December 2010). "Welsh Trotskyist in row over claims he is key adviser to Hugo Chavez". London: The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 13 July 2012.

External links[edit]

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Socialist_Appeal_(UK,_1992)&oldid=1224045518"