Having republished J. V. Stalin’s classic pamphlet Foundations of Leninism the CPGB-ML has organised a print run of The History of the CPSU(b) – Short Course. These books are now on sale via the party ebay account. Candidate and full-members of the CPGB-ML and Red Youth are requested to order their copies through sales@cpgb-ml.org where they will be due a discount. All others who wish to purchase the books may do so via ebay. Prices:
Copies will also be on sale from the CPGB-ML contingent at this years May Day demonstration which assembles in Clerkenwell, London at 12noon. Check out http://www.londonmayday.org/ for more details. And comrades can also pick up a copy from the party school on May 2nd in Southall.
CPGB-ML and Red Youth activists attended and spoke at a demonstration opposing TTIP today at Shepherd’s Bush in West London (see video below).
TTIP is the latest in the legacy of cuts and privatisation ushered in by successive imperialist governments, and has been rearing it’s ugly head with increasing frequency in the media recently – but not without opposition, despite the best attempts of our governments and media to sanitise it, and brush its anti-social effects under the carpet.
The rally in Birmingham heard speakers from various Universities and the demonstration was supported by young members of the Socialist Party, anarchist groups, young members of the Green Party and Left Unity – and of course Red Youth. Our comrades distributed our Red Youth programme We Want Freedom and we took part in the short lived occupation of the Library.
Red Youth is proud to stand with the socialist countries and is happy to reproduce below a solidarity message received from the Kim il Sung Socialist Youth League on the occasion of our 5th birthday! Red Youth maintains good international relations with a number of communist, socialist and revolutionary organisations.
Red Youth is still a very young organisation and we know that we have many weaknesses. But compared with the rump which try to pass themselves off in this country as communist youth, we can be very proud that in five years we’ve set a solid foundation and recruited the best revolutionary youth this country has produced. Since the youth riots of 2011 its become increasingly obvious to young socialists, that only the cpgb-ml and red youth offer a meaningful political experience, a vehicle for challenging capitalism.
Korean communists in imperialist prison camp holding aloft portraits of great revolutionaries Mao Zedong, Josef Stalin and Kim il Sung, from http://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/news-photo/protesting-chinese-and-north-korean-prisoners-display-news-photo/160757933
“Dear comrades,
The central committee of Kim Il Sung Socialist Youth League sends the congratulatory greetings to Red Youth on the occasion of its 5th founding anniversary.
The Red Youth have achieved great successes in the work to hold the socialism-communism and to rally more young people behind its banner while defending their rights and interests.
We are very pleased about your achievements and also express our thanks that the Red Youth have supported the Korean people and youth who are in the struggle for thriving nation under the leadership of the dear leader comrade Kim Jong Un.
We believe that the bilateral relationship will be further strengthened and the greater successes in your work.
The CPGB-ML encourages all it’s branches and groups to engage in study and to learn from the study each one of us undertakes in the spirit of the Red Youth motto each one, teach one! Across the country our members make presentations to modest sized meetings of Party comrades, Proletarian subscribers and friends to open up discussion about the history of our movement and the lessons for today. Unlike the Troto-revisionist parties, we have no “big-guns” on full time salaries who tour the country promoting their latest academic work on some obscure philosophical issue. Our comrades are all encouraged to be free-thinkers, enquring and studious and to work together to come to a Marxist understanding on important issues which have practical implications for our work today. Many comrades are enrolled on a cadre development programme which guides their study in the basics of Marxism-Leninism and gives them practical support in learning to make presentations and lead study circles.
The CPGB-ML has republished J. V. Stalin’s classic pamphlet Foundations of Leninism. The book is a reprint of the Foreign Languages Press edition which was distributed around the world by the Communist Party of China in hundreds of thousands of copies in many languages during the 1960’s and 70’s.
The need for the newly published edition arose from the demand for copies by our young cadre and the increasing rarity of the Chinese and Soviet editions which for many years were common place in second hand bookshops but which are now drying up. The new edition, replicates in every respect the Chinese paperback and will be sold at party events and online to the next generation of revolutionaries who are seeking out Marxist-Leninist answers to today’s pressing questions. Members of Red Youth will be able to purchase copies at a discounted price, and prior to their sale on eBay, orders may be placed via sales@cpgb-ml.org.
The following article is based on a speech delivered by a member of the Central Committee of the CPGB-ML to the memorial meeting, ‘Hugo Chávez and the Venezuelan Revolution’, organised by the party in London on 8 March 2013, we republish it now to mark the anniversary of the day of Comrade Chávez’s funeral.
Speaking of Mao’s contributions, the Chinese Communist Party has summed up: “Without him the Chinese people would, at the very least, have spent much more time groping in the dark.”
The same, also at the very least, can be said about the relationship between Hugo Chávez and the people of Venezuela.
Red Youth comrades can apply each year to enter onto a cadre development programme in Marxism-Leninism. This year Red Youth has just over twenty young comrades on the programme run by the Communist Party of Great Britain (Marxist-Leninist). Comrade Aberrabii a student in the West Midlands has completed his first module which requires a written assignment, assessment and public presentation. He gave his presentation to a meeting in Birmingham this month which was well received. Red Youth will publish a select number throughout the course of the year and encourages comrades to work their way through our online education programme. We’re happy to publish his speech here.
Comrade Aberrabii speaks to the meeting in Birmingham
What is imperialism? That is the first question that should be asked when debating or having a discussion about imperialism. If we look at the dictionary definition then imperialism is essentially the policy of extending a country’s power and influence through colonialism, use of military force, or other means.
So then, what is a definition of imperialism meaningful to Marxist Leninists? It is the highest stage of capitalism as Lenin said in his Imperialism: The highest stage of Capitalism, its most advanced and parasitic stage. It is not a policy of this or that government but rather something inevitable and imperialism has to come to life in order for capitalism to be fully developed, in other words imperialism is the highest stage of capitalism
There are various contradictions within the imperialist system that will contribute to its destruction. These contradictions are why imperialist nations are in terminal decline. Lenin clearly outlined three primary contradictions that contribute to this decline, as well as eventual collapse of capitalism and imperialism.
Since its very first time in office 90 years ago (bombing Iraq, selling out the unions), the Labour party has consistently proved itself to be a loyal servant of the British imperialist ruling class (both in and out of office) and an entirely false ‘friend’ to the British working people.
If we want a dignified, secure and peaceful future for British workers, free from poverty, insecurity, discrimination, war and preventable diseases, we need to understand who are our friends and who are our enemies in the struggle against capitalism and for socialism.
Come along and join the discussion, and be part of building a future that’s fit for human beings.
Saturday 24 January 2015 (12.00-2.00pm)
Beechbank Community Centre, Wester Mavisbank Avenue, Airdrie, ML6 0HE
“So many things have changed today
The world moved in a different way
Aided by the faint and weary
Who failed to delve Marxist theory
And almost cast a sad death knell
On your: “Long live the YCL!”
(from the poem Willie McGuire, see below)
Billy was born on the 12th July 1930 in Spring Garden Lane in the ‘Town End’ of Sunderland, where he lived with his mam and dad, Liz and Nicky and his older sisters. They lived in two rooms of what can only be described as a slum, a fact which Billy never shied away from: he was proud of where he came from. They didn’t use the back room for living in, as there was a crack in the wall so big you could see the shared tap in the yard outside. Before he was one year old, Billy contracted pneumonia and his mam was told by the doctor to let him ‘sleep away’ as nothing could be done. Having lost two children already, Liz wasn’t going to let that happen and borrowed the money to buy some medicine, eventually nursing Billy back to health. Her strength and determination and love for her bairns was to have a lasting impact on Billy’s life.
When he was four, the family, now including his baby brother, moved to the newly built council estate of Marley Potts in 1934. Billy remembered this being like ‘going to paradise’, having a proper house of their own with a garden and surrounded by fields: a far cry from the slums of Sunderland’s east end!
Despite the fact they had nowt, his mam always made sure they had boots on their feet and food in their bellies, unlike many of his contemporaries. Billy always remembered the happy times growing up in Marley Potts: his mam’s wonderful cooking and the strength with which she looked after her family in the difficult days of the ’30’s.
The family continued to grow and soon Billy had three more brothers. Sometimes they exasperated him when he was off being one of the ‘big lads’, but he’d always step in and fight anyone who threatened his brothers and they grew up a tight-knit and loving family.
Billy passed his 11 plus and won a place at Monkwearmouth Central School, initially he didn’t take up his place as the cost of a uniform was prohibitive. News of his achievement soon spread round the estate and his mam was finally persuaded to send him to the school after a visit from a neighbour: a Boer War veteran who felt Billy, having earned his place, deserved the opportunity to benefit from it. Money for a school cap was found and this ‘uniform’ was accepted by the school! Billy developed a lifelong love of reading and eventually, through much cajoling, persuaded his mam to let him have a library card: which was a big responsibility as any lost or damaged books would have to be paid for. Billy left school at 14 and served his time as a blacksmith with the River Wear Commissioners. These were tough times during the war and with his dad away in the army and his sisters working as part of the war effort, Billy took on the responsibility of bringing some money into the household.
Billy worked as a chain-maker on the docks: maintaining the chains was a job that had to go on despite the weather and he was often called on to retrieve damaged chains from the top of the dock cranes in snow and howling gales. It was tough work and he was equal to the task.
Though not a popular pastime in the 1950’s, Billy became interested in weightlifting: the start of a lifetime interest in health and fitness. Through this he met Nick Rowell who opened Billy’s eyes to politics and helped his nascent political and social views to coalesce into a firm-held and passionate belief in social justice. They were part of a group of likeminded mates who would swim in the North Sea in all weathers: diving off the pier and swimming across the bay. They would then play handball or football on the beach to warm up. On one such occasion a mate of Billy’s left his trunks on the sea wall to dry and when he came back they were frozen solid and stuck to the stone! In 1958 Billy won a medal for his weightlifting, being crowned North East Strength Champion in the ten stone class.
Billy’s political views lead him to join the Communist Party in 1959 and he became involved in trade unionism: working as a shop steward he fought tirelessly for decent working conditions (a subject he wrote about in his semi-fictitious novel ‘Shed no Tears for the Defeated’ which was published earlier this year). Billy stood as a Communist Party candidate for Sunderland Council in 1968 and again in 1973. When the CPGB split in 1977 he and his friends in Sunderland joined the NCP not wanting to move away from their original beliefs. [Billy went into the NCP in the belief that it represented a revolutionary alternative to the CPGB’s revisionism. Experience over a number of years showed him, however, that the NCP, because of its incurable and cretinous support for social democracy, was no better. Being totally disillusioned and disgusted by the NCP’s political line, he joined the CPGB-ML and, although in failing health, helped it in every possible way he could, especially by sending his poetry to be published in the Party’s journal or the fraternal paper, LALKAR. He was interviewed by Ranjeet Brar on behalf of the CPGB-ML; that interview will shortly be appearing on Proletarian Television. Like his family, we too, members of his extended family, will sorely miss him – Editor].
He was a well-known figure in the trade union movement, serving on the Sunderland Trades Council and never lost his passion for championing the rights of working people or his belief that if we all pulled together to fight for a better world we could achieve a fairer and more balanced society.
Billy married Londoner, Pat Cattermole in 1967, whom he’d met on holiday in Bulgaria, and in 1968 the first of his two sons, Bob, was born with Will arriving two years later. The boys were a great source of pride to him and he strove to pass on his passion for social justice to them as well as encouraging them to make the most of their education and strive for a better life.
During his life Billy embraced many hobbies, including oil painting and writing and had a number of letters, articles and poems appear in various publications over the years. He also had a love of music ranging from the popular songs of his childhood, through folk music to classical: especially the great Russians composers of the 19th Century.
Billy’s love of travel lead him to visit what would have been considered at the time as some very exotic places and he became a tour guide for Yorkshire Tours, leading coach loads of tourists to Moscow, Leipzig, Dresden, Leningrad, Prague and Budapest.
During the Miners’ Strike, Billy actively supported the NUM on the picket line and at meetings. He continued to have a strong empathy with the miners, attending Durham Miners’ Gala many times over the decades.
In later years Billy continued with his political activities and, after retirement, spent a lot of time writing, having his first novel published earlier this year at the age of 83.
We will remember him as a principled and proud man, whose passionate political and social views dominated his life. He was at times a hard man, certainly stubborn, but with a deep well of affection for his family. We will all miss his judgement and his strong presence in all our lives.
Comrades who want to know more can read this obituary in Lalkar and a review of his
book Shed no tears for the defeated is also published. Copies of this book can be purchased from sales@cpgb-ml.org or from ebay.
POEMS
Here are a few of comrade Billy’s poems as they appeared in Proletarian over the years:
Poem: What peace is there? published in Proletarian 2005
What peace is there?
When bombs are falling all around
With children buried underground
And women agonised and crowned
By thorns of terror unbound?
What peace is there?
What peace is there?
Where boys in refugee camps grow
And with their slings they learn to throw
Missiles of hate at tanks to show
Repugnance of their common foe?
What peace is there?
What peace is there?
Where men must bend their lives to war
And win their lives by tooth and claw
To force usurpers to withdraw
Then work to build and reach their star?
What peace is there?
What peace is there?
There where the Prince of Peace was crowned
And pulverising shells are found
Where right of might is renowned
Where principles in blood are drowned?
What peace is there?
W Hunt-Vincent
Poem: Willie McGuire in Proletarian October 2014
The sight of young men from southeast Ukraine preparing themselves for war, to defend their birth-right, as seen on TV, brings to mind a young Scotsman who spoke his last words to Harry Pollitt as he lay in a hospital bed in Spain in the 1930s.
Willie McGuire, Willie McGuire
What was it set your heart on fire?
From distant Dundee home to go
Where Jarama and Ebro flow
Brave through the Spanish gates of hell
Cry out: “Long live the YCL!”
You died to give this world a chance
To crush the grisly fascist stance
Of those who make a world of want
You fought to end the age of cant
With gun in hand while comrades fell
Cried out: “Long live the YCL!”
So many things have changed today
The world moved in a different way
Aided by the faint and weary
Who failed to delve Marxist theory
And almost cast a sad death knell
On your: “Long live the YCL!”
Willie McGuire, Willie McGuire
Your fight in Spain will ere inspire
Young people from around the globe
Who proudly don the red, red robe
Stained by the blood of heroes who fell
Now: “Long live a New YCL!”
By William Hunt-Vincent
Poem: I Wonder If Those Days Are Coming Back by William Hunt-Vincent in Proletarian 2007
Now I remember
I remember the days of long gone by
When I was young and my spirit was high
I remember
When I roamed the streets in my old sand shoes
And nazis were just coming in the news
I remember
And I wonder if those days are coming back
Now I remember
On a cold and bitter frosty morning
I walked to school shortly after dawning
I remember
There in the old school yard a sight that hurt
Charlie Brown was dressed in his sister’s skirt
I remember
And I wonder if those days are coming back
Now I remember
Charlie’s father was always on the dole
And dole had eaten poor Sunderland’s soul
I remember
His friends hid the boy who wanted to die
To keep his shame from the cruel world’s eye
I remember
And I wonder if those days are coming back
Now I remember
When we all played around the Southwick Green
Scrambling in the gutter for orange peel
I remember
How we dodged the rattling old tram cars
And our fathers hung about outside bars
I remember
And I wonder if those days are coming back
Now I remember
When everything was cheap upon the stall
But man’s labour was cheapest of all
I remember
How the people struggled and laughed and cried
And this town of Sunderland nearly died
I remember
And I wonder if those days are coming back
Now I remember
And as I try to think of ways and means
To prevent the return of bad old scenes
I remember
We must come together, you and me
To once and forever set ourselves free
I remember
We must see that those hard days never come back
