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Communist Party of Britain

1 External links

Contents

History

The CPB's two official symbols in use
The Communist Party of Britain (CPB) was formed in 1988 by a disaffected segment of the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB), including the editorship of the party controlled newspaper, The Morning Star. The founders of the CPB blamed what they saw as a domineering clique in the CPGB's leadership for precipitating a dramatic decline in the party's fortunes by introducing a new party constitution. The youth wing of the CPGB, the Young Communist League, had collapsed, and The Morning Star was losing circulation.

The next year, the leaders of CPGB formally declared that they had never been Marxist-Leninists, and abandoned the party's programme "British Road to Socialism". Members of the CPB perceived this as the CPGB turning its back on socialism.

Since then, the CPB has worked constantly on the fringes of the labour and trade union movement in Britain. It is a minor player in the Stop the War Coalition, one of the movement's directors being a Communist Party of Britain member.

Legitimacy

Due to the Registration of Political Parties Act 1998, the Communist Party of Britain is the only political party in Britain legally entitled to use the hammer and sickle as an electoral symbol, although to indicate the party's commitment to peace, the hammer and dove is the most commonly used CPB symbol, whilst the New Communist Party uses the hammer and sickle with the NCP initials underneath as its ordinary symbol. The fact that the CPB is legally entitled to the hammer and sickle adds legitimacy to its claim to be the logical successor of the Communist Party of Great Britain.

Organisation

The Communist Party of Britain describes itself as a "disciplined and democratic rganisation". It's "About Us" section on it's website says that:

The basic organisation of the Party is the branch. All members are allocated to the most appropriate branch for them. They are encouraged to participate fully in the branch's work, in order to pool experience, to deepen their own understanding of political affairs and of Marxist theory, and to develop to their full potential as communists. Branch meetings are generally open to interested non-members.

Each branch holds an annual general meeting at which a branch committee is elected, to give leadership to activities for the forthcoming year. Branches are grouped within Nations (including the Communist Party of Wales, although the Communist Party of Scotland is an unrelated organisation) and Districts, established on the basis of coherent geographical areas. Workplace branches also exist. In each district/nation, a congress is held every two years, composed of delegates elected from the various Branches. The district congress decides the broad perspectives for Party activity within the district for the next two years, and elects a District Committee to carry that work forward.

he Welsh and Scottish Congresses elect their own leading committees and formulate policies for their respective countries in accordance with the general lines of the Party's programme and approach.

The all-Britain National Congress, composed of delegates from branches and national and district committees, is held every two years. This decides policy for the Party as a whole, and elects an Executive Committee to carry that policy forward and direct the Party's work between national congresses.

In turn, the EC elects a Political Committee to provide leadership in between EC meetings. A number of advisory committees, incorporating delegates from nations and districts, also exist to help develop policy and assist the Party's work in particular industries or areas of activity (for example among women, pensioners, the unemployed and in education and international affairs).

Publications

Although described as "the Morning Star's Communist Party" by the CPGB (PCC), the CPB and the Morning Star (the only English-language socialist newspaper in the world) are not structurally linked. A few years ago an internal dispute within the CPB spilled over into the Morning Star where journalists went on strike against "management". The editorial board of the Morning Star, must, however, abide by "Britain's Road to Socialism", the CPB's programme. In return, members of the CPB must abide by one of its own rules that says that Party members must read and do all they can to increase the circulation of the newspaper.

The CPB also publishes the free "Communist News" for its members and "Communist Review" for members and non-members, costing £2.

Size

The CPB says it has approximately one thousand members. Despite claims, mainly stemming from long-time rival the Socialist Workers Party that it consists singularly of elderly Stalinists, at a recent Party congress, half of the seventy delegates were aged under thirty-five years. The CPB's small size is disproportionate to much of its influence, particularly in the Stop the War Coalition and the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament.

Headquarters

At the beginning of November, 2004, the CPB and its youth organisation, the YCL, moved out of its temporary headquarters in Camden, North London. The building was owned by AKEL, the Cypriot communist party, and was deemed too small for the CPB's ever increasing operations. Ruskin House in Croydon was chosen as the new Party headquarters, with its long history in the progressive movement as centre of the Anti-Apartheid Movement and also local Labour Party and co-operative groups. Ruskin House allows the CPB plenty of room to hold its congresses and other important meetings, although the prospect of having a bar in the Party's headquarters would also have been an attraction.

External links

  • Communist Party of Britain http://www.communist-party.org.uk
  • Britain's Road to Socialism http://www.communist-party.org.uk/brs/index.shtml
  • Communist Party of Wales http://www.welshcommunists.co.uk
  • Ruskin House http://www.croydon.org.uk/ruskin/intro.html


Last updated: 04-29-2005 16:09:02