Revolutionary Communist Group
Encyclopedia
The Revolutionary Communist Group (RCG) is a Marxist-Leninist
political organisation based in the United Kingdom
which is avowedly socialist
and communist
in nature. Developing in the early 1970s, the RCG grew out of the "Revolutionary Opposition" faction of the International Socialists (IS), (forerunners of the Socialist Workers Party), being strongly influenced by the politics of Roy Tearse. When the leading figures of the "Revolutionary Opposition", the name itself only first appearing in print in their appeal document, were expelled from the IS its members met to decide on their course of action, and disagreements between Tearse's allies and the majority of the faction around David Yaffe rapidly surfaced. The result was that Tearse's supporters formed the Discussion Group which led a quiet life for a number of years inside the Labour Party
before dissolving. Meanwhile Yaffe and his comrades proceeded to found the Revolutionary Communist Group in 1974.
According to its own statements, the group "exists in order to defend and develop an anti-imperialist trend within Britain, based on the long term interests of the entire working class and oppressed internationally. We stand for the creation of a society organised both to meet the needs of the entire population, and to ensure the fullest possible development of every individual." Emphasising a campaign against capitalism
and the oppression of the working classes, the group is also highly critical of British foreign policy, believing it to be imperialistic
in nature. In particular, they criticise British control of Northern Ireland
, the involvement of British troops in Iraq
and Afghanistan
, and the British government’s support for the Israel
i occupation of Palestine
.
Believing that the British electoral system cannot bring about any real change in society, the RCG has not taken part in elections since 1979. The group also publish their own newspaper, which now appears every two months, entitled Fight Racism! Fight Imperialism!, which has been running since November–December 1979.
organisation. It believes that the United Kingdom is a dictatorship of the bourgeoisie
(i.e., a state where the ruling upper classes control the economic and political powers to the detriment of the working classes, in this case through a representative democracy
), and believe that the only real way to enact social change is for the working classes to take power in a revolution
, thereby establishing a dictatorship of the proletariat
(i.e., a state ruled through participatory democracy
by the working classes for the benefit of the masses).
Writing in 2007, the British Trotskyist group Permanent Revolution characterised the RCG's position as being "distinctive on the British left by their open espousal of left Stalinism, which essentially consists of an uncritical support for the leadership of anti-imperialist struggles, an uncritical support for the Cuban regime, a completely undemocratic internal structure, an active participation in anti-racist struggles and complete rejection of any united front work within the British labour movement, trade unions or Labour Party."
and continuing through foreign wars and corporate dominance, to the detriment to the working class masses living in these countries.
The group supports revolutionary socialist movements in various Third
and Second World
countries such as the Bolivarian government of Hugo Chávez
in Venezuela, the socialist government of Evo Morales
in Bolivia and the Marxist-Leninist government of Fidel
, and subsequently his brother Raúl Castro
in Cuba, believing that they have the ability to radically help the working class masses living in these nations, and fight against the imperialism of the United Kingdom, United States and other First World
states who use them for cheap labour. As they make clear on their website, "The resistance movements in the oppressed nations are weakening imperialism; an anti-imperialist movement in this country in unity with these struggles can deal a decisive blow against British imperialism and the British ruling class. For this reason the RCG has always given complete and unconditional support to liberation movements fighting imperialism and we support their right to carry out their struggles by any means necessary."
The RCG argues that socialists should not give their support to the centre/centre-left Labour Party
, which is one of the major political parties in the United Kingdom. On this subject, David Yaffe stated the RCG's position that "no anti-imperialist or socialist movement can be built unless the British left makes a fundamental and irrevocable break with the British Labour Party." He went on to characterise the party's policies in government as being "openly racist, imperialist and warmongering". At the same time it has remained critical of other socialist organisations in Britain such as the Communist Party of Great Britain
, Militant
, the International Marxist Group
and the Socialist Workers Party for what it sees as being "major obstacle[s]" to the building of an anti-imperialist movement in Britain. This is because many of these groups denounced the governments of socialist states such as the Soviet Union, China and Cuba, and instead encouraged their members to vote for the Labour Party.
and particularly the racism of the British government and state. It has supported groups of black nationalists
in the United States in their attempt to defend themselves from racist attacks. It also opposes any constraints on immigration
, believing that any constraints on immigration are inherently racist in an imperialist country. It also criticises all other forms of discrimination in society, stating that "We oppose all discrimination against anyone on grounds of gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation and disability."
, a theme they had already addressed in the IS when challenging the work of the theoreticians of that group. They developed Karl Marx
, Friedrich Engels
and Vladimir Lenin
's analysis of the labour aristocracy, and showed its relevance for politics in the period after the Second World War. Their conclusions led them to call for no vote for the Labour Party. In so doing they broke totally from Trotskyism.
The early years of the RCG saw the group lose a large part of its initial membership. For example in September 1975 the Birmingham branch decamped in order to join the Workers' Socialist League.
A few years after the RCG's foundation, disagreements emerged amongst its members regarding such topics as Stalinism
and the South African government. One group, dominated by Frank Furedi
(1947-), a sociologist at the University of Kent
who used the pseudonym of "Frank Richards", began to argue against the views put forward by David Yaffe and his supporters. Yaffe himself later remarked that Furedi had been "organising among a clique of middle-class members, and became their self-styled guru". In November 1976, Furedi and his followers were expelled from the RCG, following which they went on to form their own rival organisation, the Revolutionary Communist Tendency (RCT). Soon, the RTC itself splintered, with a group calling itself the Committee for a Communist Programme (CPP) being founded by several dissenting members. Following this, the RCT went on to change its name to the Revolutionary Communist Party
in 1981, and would publish the magazine Living Marxism
from 1988 to 2000, in which their political position moved from Leninism
to Libertarian Marxism
.
The RCG recognised the progressive role played by some of the traditional communist parties such as the South African Communist Party
and from that position developed into a more orthodox communist grouping supporting the socialist revolution in Cuba
.
Whilst other far-left parties, especially those regarding themselves as Trotskyist, in the UK welcomed the demise of the Eastern Bloc
and then of the Soviet Union
the RCG argued that these events were counterrevolutionary
and constituted a setback in the class struggle
internationally because many national liberation movements and socialist states in the Third World
were supported by the Soviet Union and the Comecon
. The RCG believed that while the Soviet Union was a socialist state
, as a result of both internal developments in the Soviet Union itself and the reactionary role of working class parties (social democratic and communist) in the imperialist countries, the revolution degenerated and the communist party became an elite party separate from the working class. These developments laid the foundation for the counterrevolution between 1989-91.
national liberation struggle, working with the Prisoners Aid Committee, Sinn Féin
and the Troops Out Movement
(TOM), and focussing particularly on support for Irish republican prisoners held in British prisons. The analysis which the RCG developed through this work, on the role of national liberation movements in opposing imperialism
, laid the foundations for much of its later positions, and its relationship to the rest of the British left
. Unlike many other left organisations, the RCG consistently argued that British troops had no progressive role to play in Ireland, and called for total support for the Republican movement in the struggle against British imperialism. Their involvement with the prisoner support groups established a tradition of outspoken support for prison struggles which has continued to the present, with a page of every issue of their newspaper dealing with prison conditions and struggles. In 1990, when prisoners at Strangeways (see 1990 Strangeways Prison riot
) took over the prison in protest at conditions, the RCG was active together with other groups supporting them on the outside, and later published a book, 'Strangeways: A Serious Disturbance', largely written by prisoners and former prisoners.
During the 1980s, the RCG's most notable activity was its participation in the non-stop picket of the South Africa
n embassy in London
calling for the release of Nelson Mandela
. This was organized by the City of London Anti-Apartheid Group, within which the RCG played a leading role alongside elements of the Workers' Revolutionary Party
, the Humanist Party and members of the Kitson family. City AA, as it became known, had been founded by Norma Kitson
, the wife of the South African Communist activist David Kitson who served 19 years and 5 months in prison in a South African prison for his work in the National High Command of Umkhonto we Sizwe
(MK), the military wing of the African National Congress
.
City AA was eventually expelled by the national leadership of the Anti-Apartheid Movement
, over differences centering on City Group's insistence on making the link between British support for apartheid in South Africa, and racism within Britain.
Another significant campaign during the 1980s was the Viraj Mendis
Defence Campaign, against the deportation of one of the group's members to Sri Lanka
. This developed into a high profile national campaign involving people from left-wing groups such as the RCG, local residents of Manchester
, and extending to church leaders and Labour Party Members of Parliament
.
(RATB), a solidarity organisation with the Cuban Revolution. As well as campaigning on issues such as the US
economic blockade
and the Cuban Five
, and sending political solidarity brigades to Cuba, RATB raised funds to take sound systems out to Cuba. These were used with young people in cultural and political work, and the RATB has donated five sound systems over a ten year period.
In 2001 three members were asked to leave or resign because of what were described as their reactionary ultra-left views. One example of the division was over the September 11th attacks in 2001
, which the three people who left viewed as a victory against imperialism. They had previously alleged that the leadership was bureaucratic and failing to train the membership in Marxism-Leninism
. The three left to form Communist Forum, often known by the name of their newsletter, Fightback. They have ceased to be active.
Following the start of the Palestinian
second intifada
in September 2000, in October the RCG joined a group which had begun to picket Marks and Spencer in Manchester over their support for Israel
, and helped to spread this to other cities. Over the next six years pickets of Marks and Spencer were held in places including Glasgow
, Edinburgh
, Dundee
, Newcastle
, Stockton
, Middlesbrough
, Durham
, Rochdale
, Nottingham
, Leicester
, across London, Stratford and Brighton
. Throughout this period the flagship store on Oxford Street
in London was picketed weekly, and in many other places pickets were sustained on a regular basis.
In 2005 and 2006, the RCG stepped up their work in solidarity with asylum seekers, supporting the setting up of UNITY
, an asylum seekers' union, in Glasgow, and helping to establish Tyneside Community Action for Refugees (TCAR) in Newcastle and Gateshead
and the North West Asylum Seekers Defence Group (NWASDG) in Manchester (for a selection of reports from this period see 1, 2).
As a part of the government cuts, the coalition announced plans to simultaneously cut much university funding and dramatically increase the tuition fees charged to students. This move led to widespread student protests taking place in November and December 2010
, during which demonstrators occupied the central Jeremy Bentham Room
in University College London
(UCL) for several weeks. The protesting UCL students (some of whom were RCG members or supporters) organised a panel discussion to be held during which representatives from several leftist organisations (including the RCG's David Yaffe as well as figures from the Green Party of England and Wales
, Socialist Appeal
and Workers Power
) discussed the reforms then being made by the government and university authorities to higher education in Britain.
Commenting on the reason for titling the paper as such, David Yaffe noted that it was chosen because it was in "itself a political statement. It declares that fighting racism and imperialism must be at the heart of any socialist movement in imperialist Britain."
Marxism-Leninism
Marxism–Leninism is a communist ideology, officially based upon the theories of Marxism and Vladimir Lenin, that promotes the development and creation of a international communist society through the leadership of a vanguard party over a revolutionary socialist state that represents a dictatorship...
political organisation based in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
which is avowedly socialist
Socialism
Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...
and communist
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
in nature. Developing in the early 1970s, the RCG grew out of the "Revolutionary Opposition" faction of the International Socialists (IS), (forerunners of the Socialist Workers Party), being strongly influenced by the politics of Roy Tearse. When the leading figures of the "Revolutionary Opposition", the name itself only first appearing in print in their appeal document, were expelled from the IS its members met to decide on their course of action, and disagreements between Tearse's allies and the majority of the faction around David Yaffe rapidly surfaced. The result was that Tearse's supporters formed the Discussion Group which led a quiet life for a number of years inside the Labour Party
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
before dissolving. Meanwhile Yaffe and his comrades proceeded to found the Revolutionary Communist Group in 1974.
According to its own statements, the group "exists in order to defend and develop an anti-imperialist trend within Britain, based on the long term interests of the entire working class and oppressed internationally. We stand for the creation of a society organised both to meet the needs of the entire population, and to ensure the fullest possible development of every individual." Emphasising a campaign against capitalism
Capitalism
Capitalism is an economic system that became dominant in the Western world following the demise of feudalism. There is no consensus on the precise definition nor on how the term should be used as a historical category...
and the oppression of the working classes, the group is also highly critical of British foreign policy, believing it to be imperialistic
Imperialism
Imperialism, as defined by Dictionary of Human Geography, is "the creation and/or maintenance of an unequal economic, cultural, and territorial relationships, usually between states and often in the form of an empire, based on domination and subordination." The imperialism of the last 500 years,...
in nature. In particular, they criticise British control of Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
, the involvement of British troops in Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
and Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
, and the British government’s support for the Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
i occupation of Palestine
Palestine
Palestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....
.
Believing that the British electoral system cannot bring about any real change in society, the RCG has not taken part in elections since 1979. The group also publish their own newspaper, which now appears every two months, entitled Fight Racism! Fight Imperialism!, which has been running since November–December 1979.
Marxist position
The Revolutionary Communist Group is a communistCommunism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
organisation. It believes that the United Kingdom is a dictatorship of the bourgeoisie
Bourgeoisie
In sociology and political science, bourgeoisie describes a range of groups across history. In the Western world, between the late 18th century and the present day, the bourgeoisie is a social class "characterized by their ownership of capital and their related culture." A member of the...
(i.e., a state where the ruling upper classes control the economic and political powers to the detriment of the working classes, in this case through a representative democracy
Representative democracy
Representative democracy is a form of government founded on the principle of elected individuals representing the people, as opposed to autocracy and direct democracy...
), and believe that the only real way to enact social change is for the working classes to take power in a revolution
Revolution
A revolution is a fundamental change in power or organizational structures that takes place in a relatively short period of time.Aristotle described two types of political revolution:...
, thereby establishing a dictatorship of the proletariat
Dictatorship of the proletariat
In Marxist socio-political thought, the dictatorship of the proletariat refers to a socialist state in which the proletariat, or the working class, have control of political power. The term, coined by Joseph Weydemeyer, was adopted by the founders of Marxism, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, in the...
(i.e., a state ruled through participatory democracy
Participatory democracy
Participatory Democracy, also known as Deliberative Democracy, Direct Democracy and Real Democracy , is a process where political decisions are made directly by regular people...
by the working classes for the benefit of the masses).
Writing in 2007, the British Trotskyist group Permanent Revolution characterised the RCG's position as being "distinctive on the British left by their open espousal of left Stalinism, which essentially consists of an uncritical support for the leadership of anti-imperialist struggles, an uncritical support for the Cuban regime, a completely undemocratic internal structure, an active participation in anti-racist struggles and complete rejection of any united front work within the British labour movement, trade unions or Labour Party."
Criticism of British imperialism
The RCG believes that the United Kingdom has been an imperialist power since the end of the nineteenth century, stating that "Britain is the oldest imperialist country in the world. It was the first to develop into finance monopoly capitalism – imperialism, and is still a major imperialist power, second only to the United States. Britain's imperialist character has been decisive in determining British economic, social and political developments." In this way they believe that the British state has interfered in foreign affairs, historically through the British EmpireBritish Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
and continuing through foreign wars and corporate dominance, to the detriment to the working class masses living in these countries.
The group supports revolutionary socialist movements in various Third
Third World
The term Third World arose during the Cold War to define countries that remained non-aligned with either capitalism and NATO , or communism and the Soviet Union...
and Second World
Second World
The term "Second World" is a phrase used to describe those countries which are allied with or are supported by the "First World" countries . These include countries supported by the United States, such as Colombia, Israel, etc., and those supported by the former Soviet Union, also known as the the...
countries such as the Bolivarian government of Hugo Chávez
Hugo Chávez
Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías is the 56th and current President of Venezuela, having held that position since 1999. He was formerly the leader of the Fifth Republic Movement political party from its foundation in 1997 until 2007, when he became the leader of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela...
in Venezuela, the socialist government of Evo Morales
Evo Morales
Juan Evo Morales Ayma , popularly known as Evo , is a Bolivian politician and activist, currently serving as the 80th President of Bolivia, a position that he has held since 2006. He is also the leader of both the Movement for Socialism party and the cocalero trade union...
in Bolivia and the Marxist-Leninist government of Fidel
Fidel Castro
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz is a Cuban revolutionary and politician, having held the position of Prime Minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976, and then President from 1976 to 2008. He also served as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba from the party's foundation in 1961 until 2011...
, and subsequently his brother Raúl Castro
Raúl Castro
Raúl Modesto Castro Ruz is a Cuban politician and revolutionary who has been President of the Council of State of Cuba and the President of the Council of Ministers of Cuba since 2008; he previously exercised presidential powers in an acting capacity from 2006 to 2008...
in Cuba, believing that they have the ability to radically help the working class masses living in these nations, and fight against the imperialism of the United Kingdom, United States and other First World
First World
The concept of the First World first originated during the Cold War, where it was used to describe countries that were aligned with the United States. These countries were democratic and capitalistic. After the fall of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War, the term "First World" took on a...
states who use them for cheap labour. As they make clear on their website, "The resistance movements in the oppressed nations are weakening imperialism; an anti-imperialist movement in this country in unity with these struggles can deal a decisive blow against British imperialism and the British ruling class. For this reason the RCG has always given complete and unconditional support to liberation movements fighting imperialism and we support their right to carry out their struggles by any means necessary."
The RCG argues that socialists should not give their support to the centre/centre-left Labour Party
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
, which is one of the major political parties in the United Kingdom. On this subject, David Yaffe stated the RCG's position that "no anti-imperialist or socialist movement can be built unless the British left makes a fundamental and irrevocable break with the British Labour Party." He went on to characterise the party's policies in government as being "openly racist, imperialist and warmongering". At the same time it has remained critical of other socialist organisations in Britain such as the Communist Party of Great Britain
Communist Party of Great Britain
The Communist Party of Great Britain was the largest communist party in Great Britain, although it never became a mass party like those in France and Italy. It existed from 1920 to 1991.-Formation:...
, Militant
Militant Tendency
The Militant tendency was an entrist group within the British Labour Party based around the Militant newspaper that was first published in 1964...
, the International Marxist Group
International Marxist Group
The International Marxist Group was a Trotskyist group in Britain between 1968 and 1982. It was the British Section of the Fourth International. It and its youth organisation had had around 1,000 members and supporters in the late 1970s...
and the Socialist Workers Party for what it sees as being "major obstacle[s]" to the building of an anti-imperialist movement in Britain. This is because many of these groups denounced the governments of socialist states such as the Soviet Union, China and Cuba, and instead encouraged their members to vote for the Labour Party.
Criticism of racism, immigration controls and discrimination
The RCG has been firmly critical of racismRacism
Racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...
and particularly the racism of the British government and state. It has supported groups of black nationalists
Black nationalism
Black nationalism advocates a racial definition of indigenous national identity, as opposed to multiculturalism. There are different indigenous nationalist philosophies but the principles of all African nationalist ideologies are unity, and self-determination or independence from European society...
in the United States in their attempt to defend themselves from racist attacks. It also opposes any constraints on immigration
Immigration
Immigration is the act of foreigners passing or coming into a country for the purpose of permanent residence...
, believing that any constraints on immigration are inherently racist in an imperialist country. It also criticises all other forms of discrimination in society, stating that "We oppose all discrimination against anyone on grounds of gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation and disability."
Early years: 1970-1976
In January 1975 the RCG began publishing a theoretical journal called Revolutionary Communisthttp://www.revolutionarycommunist.org/marxism.html in which it espoused an ultra-orthodox view of crisis theoryCrisis theory
Crisis theory is generally associated with Marxian economics. In this context crisis refers to what is called, even currently and outside Marxian theory in many European countries a "conjuncture" or especially sharp bust cycle of the regular boom and bust pattern of what Marxists term "chaotic"...
, a theme they had already addressed in the IS when challenging the work of the theoreticians of that group. They developed Karl Marx
Karl Marx
Karl Heinrich Marx was a German philosopher, economist, sociologist, historian, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. His ideas played a significant role in the development of social science and the socialist political movement...
, Friedrich Engels
Friedrich Engels
Friedrich Engels was a German industrialist, social scientist, author, political theorist, philosopher, and father of Marxist theory, alongside Karl Marx. In 1845 he published The Condition of the Working Class in England, based on personal observations and research...
and Vladimir Lenin
Vladimir Lenin
Vladimir Ilyich Lenin was a Russian Marxist revolutionary and communist politician who led the October Revolution of 1917. As leader of the Bolsheviks, he headed the Soviet state during its initial years , as it fought to establish control of Russia in the Russian Civil War and worked to create a...
's analysis of the labour aristocracy, and showed its relevance for politics in the period after the Second World War. Their conclusions led them to call for no vote for the Labour Party. In so doing they broke totally from Trotskyism.
The early years of the RCG saw the group lose a large part of its initial membership. For example in September 1975 the Birmingham branch decamped in order to join the Workers' Socialist League.
Stalinism
Stalinism refers to the ideology that Joseph Stalin conceived and implemented in the Soviet Union, and is generally considered a branch of Marxist–Leninist ideology but considered by some historians to be a significant deviation from this philosophy...
and the South African government. One group, dominated by Frank Furedi
Frank Furedi
Frank Furedi is professor of sociology at the University of Kent, United Kingdom. He is well known for his work on sociology of fear, therapy culture, paranoid parenting and sociology of knowledge....
(1947-), a sociologist at the University of Kent
University of Kent
The University of Kent, previously the University of Kent at Canterbury, is a public research university based in Kent, United Kingdom...
who used the pseudonym of "Frank Richards", began to argue against the views put forward by David Yaffe and his supporters. Yaffe himself later remarked that Furedi had been "organising among a clique of middle-class members, and became their self-styled guru". In November 1976, Furedi and his followers were expelled from the RCG, following which they went on to form their own rival organisation, the Revolutionary Communist Tendency (RCT). Soon, the RTC itself splintered, with a group calling itself the Committee for a Communist Programme (CPP) being founded by several dissenting members. Following this, the RCT went on to change its name to the Revolutionary Communist Party
Revolutionary Communist Party (Furedi)
The Revolutionary Communist Tendency , which emerged in 1978, began as a Trotskyist political organisation in Britain in 1978, becoming the Revolutionary Communist Party in 1981, in the tradition of the revolutionary Bolshevik Party...
in 1981, and would publish the magazine Living Marxism
Living Marxism
Living Marxism was a British magazine, originally launched in 1988 as the journal of the British Revolutionary Communist Party . It was later rebranded as LM and folded in March 2000 following an adverse ruling in a libel lawsuit brought by the British news corporation, Independent Television News...
from 1988 to 2000, in which their political position moved from Leninism
Leninism
In Marxist philosophy, Leninism is the body of political theory for the democratic organisation of a revolutionary vanguard party, and the achievement of a direct-democracy dictatorship of the proletariat, as political prelude to the establishment of socialism...
to Libertarian Marxism
Libertarian Marxism
Libertarian Marxism refers to a broad scope of economic and political philosophies that emphasize the anti-authoritarian aspects of Marxism. Early currents of libertarian Marxism, known as left communism, emerged in opposition to Marxism–Leninism and its derivatives, such as Stalinism, Maoism, and...
.
The RCG recognised the progressive role played by some of the traditional communist parties such as the South African Communist Party
South African Communist Party
South African Communist Party is a political party in South Africa. It was founded in 1921 as the Communist Party of South Africa by the joining together of the International Socialist League and others under the leadership of Willam H...
and from that position developed into a more orthodox communist grouping supporting the socialist revolution in Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
.
Whilst other far-left parties, especially those regarding themselves as Trotskyist, in the UK welcomed the demise of the Eastern Bloc
Eastern bloc
The term Eastern Bloc or Communist Bloc refers to the former communist states of Eastern and Central Europe, generally the Soviet Union and the countries of the Warsaw Pact...
and then of the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
the RCG argued that these events were counterrevolutionary
Counterrevolutionary
A counter-revolutionary is anyone who opposes a revolution, particularly those who act after a revolution to try to overturn or reverse it, in full or in part...
and constituted a setback in the class struggle
Class struggle
Class struggle is the active expression of a class conflict looked at from any kind of socialist perspective. Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels wrote "The [written] history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggle"....
internationally because many national liberation movements and socialist states in the Third World
Third World
The term Third World arose during the Cold War to define countries that remained non-aligned with either capitalism and NATO , or communism and the Soviet Union...
were supported by the Soviet Union and the Comecon
Comecon
The Council for Mutual Economic Assistance , 1949–1991, was an economic organisation under hegemony of Soviet Union comprising the countries of the Eastern Bloc along with a number of communist states elsewhere in the world...
. The RCG believed that while the Soviet Union was a socialist state
Socialist state
A socialist state generally refers to any state constitutionally dedicated to the construction of a socialist society. It is closely related to the political strategy of "state socialism", a set of ideologies and policies that believe a socialist economy can be established through government...
, as a result of both internal developments in the Soviet Union itself and the reactionary role of working class parties (social democratic and communist) in the imperialist countries, the revolution degenerated and the communist party became an elite party separate from the working class. These developments laid the foundation for the counterrevolution between 1989-91.
Solidarity with Ireland and South Africa: 1977-1989
During the late 1970s and early 1980s, the RCG became heavily involved in support for the IrishIreland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
national liberation struggle, working with the Prisoners Aid Committee, Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin is a left wing, Irish republican political party in Ireland. The name is Irish for "ourselves" or "we ourselves", although it is frequently mistranslated as "ourselves alone". Originating in the Sinn Féin organisation founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffith, it took its current form in 1970...
and the Troops Out Movement
Troops Out Movement
The Troops Out Movement is an Irish republican organisation, based in the United Kingdom, that was formed in 1973 with the aim of bringing an end to British involvement in Northern Ireland, and bringing about a united Ireland....
(TOM), and focussing particularly on support for Irish republican prisoners held in British prisons. The analysis which the RCG developed through this work, on the role of national liberation movements in opposing imperialism
Imperialism
Imperialism, as defined by Dictionary of Human Geography, is "the creation and/or maintenance of an unequal economic, cultural, and territorial relationships, usually between states and often in the form of an empire, based on domination and subordination." The imperialism of the last 500 years,...
, laid the foundations for much of its later positions, and its relationship to the rest of the British left
Left-wing politics
In politics, Left, left-wing and leftist generally refer to support for social change to create a more egalitarian society...
. Unlike many other left organisations, the RCG consistently argued that British troops had no progressive role to play in Ireland, and called for total support for the Republican movement in the struggle against British imperialism. Their involvement with the prisoner support groups established a tradition of outspoken support for prison struggles which has continued to the present, with a page of every issue of their newspaper dealing with prison conditions and struggles. In 1990, when prisoners at Strangeways (see 1990 Strangeways Prison riot
1990 Strangeways Prison riot
The 1990 Strangeways Prison riot was a 25-day prison riot and rooftop protest at Strangeways Prison in Manchester, England. The riot began on 1 April 1990 when prisoners took control of the prison chapel, and the riot quickly spread throughout most of the prison...
) took over the prison in protest at conditions, the RCG was active together with other groups supporting them on the outside, and later published a book, 'Strangeways: A Serious Disturbance', largely written by prisoners and former prisoners.
During the 1980s, the RCG's most notable activity was its participation in the non-stop picket of the South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
n embassy in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
calling for the release of Nelson Mandela
Nelson Mandela
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999, and was the first South African president to be elected in a fully representative democratic election. Before his presidency, Mandela was an anti-apartheid activist, and the leader of Umkhonto we Sizwe, the armed wing...
. This was organized by the City of London Anti-Apartheid Group, within which the RCG played a leading role alongside elements of the Workers' Revolutionary Party
Workers' Revolutionary Party (UK)
The Workers Revolutionary Party is a minute Trotskyist group in Britain. In the mid-1980s, it split several ways.-The Club:The WRP grew out of the faction Gerry Healy and John Lawrence led in the Revolutionary Communist Party which urged that the RCP enter the Labour Party. This policy was also...
, the Humanist Party and members of the Kitson family. City AA, as it became known, had been founded by Norma Kitson
Norma Kitson
Norma Kitson was an African political activist. She participated in the fight against racial hatred in the South Africa. In 2011 she was honored by the Republic of Sierra Leone by a postage stamp issued for her in their series: “Legendary Heroes of Africa”....
, the wife of the South African Communist activist David Kitson who served 19 years and 5 months in prison in a South African prison for his work in the National High Command of Umkhonto we Sizwe
Umkhonto we Sizwe
Umkhonto we Sizwe , translated "Spear of the Nation," was the armed wing of the African National Congress which fought against the South African apartheid government. MK launched its first guerrilla attacks against government installations on 16 December 1961...
(MK), the military wing of the African National Congress
African National Congress
The African National Congress is South Africa's governing Africanist political party, supported by its tripartite alliance with the Congress of South African Trade Unions and the South African Communist Party , since the establishment of non-racial democracy in April 1994. It defines itself as a...
.
City AA was eventually expelled by the national leadership of the Anti-Apartheid Movement
Anti-Apartheid Movement
Anti-Apartheid Movement , originally known as the Boycott Movement, was a British organization that was at the center of the international movement opposing South Africa's system of apartheid and supporting South Africa's Blacks....
, over differences centering on City Group's insistence on making the link between British support for apartheid in South Africa, and racism within Britain.
Another significant campaign during the 1980s was the Viraj Mendis
Viraj Mendis
Viraj Mendis is a Sri Lankan national who claimed the right of sanctuary at the Church of the Ascension in Hulme, Manchester, England during the 1980s. He was an active supporter of the Tamils and the UK Revolutionary Communist Group and claimed danger of death if he was sent back to Sri Lanka. He...
Defence Campaign, against the deportation of one of the group's members to Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
. This developed into a high profile national campaign involving people from left-wing groups such as the RCG, local residents of Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
, and extending to church leaders and Labour Party Members of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
.
Solidarity with Cuba and Palestine: 1990-present
In 1995 the RCG set up Rock Around the BlockadeRock Around the Blockade
Rock Around the Blockade , is a Cuba solidarity organisation in Britain founded by members of the Revolutionary Communist Group in 1995. RATB sees the struggle to defend the Cuban Revolution as part of building a movement for socialism and communism in Britain...
(RATB), a solidarity organisation with the Cuban Revolution. As well as campaigning on issues such as the US
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
economic blockade
Blockade
A blockade is an effort to cut off food, supplies, war material or communications from a particular area by force, either in part or totally. A blockade should not be confused with an embargo or sanctions, which are legal barriers to trade, and is distinct from a siege in that a blockade is usually...
and the Cuban Five
Cuban Five
The Cuban Five, also known as the Miami Five are five Cuban intelligence officers convicted in Miami of conspiracy to commit espionage, conspiracy to commit murder, and other illegal activities in the United States...
, and sending political solidarity brigades to Cuba, RATB raised funds to take sound systems out to Cuba. These were used with young people in cultural and political work, and the RATB has donated five sound systems over a ten year period.
In 2001 three members were asked to leave or resign because of what were described as their reactionary ultra-left views. One example of the division was over the September 11th attacks in 2001
September 11, 2001 attacks
The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks (also referred to as September 11, September 11th or 9/119/11 is pronounced "nine eleven". The slash is not part of the pronunciation...
, which the three people who left viewed as a victory against imperialism. They had previously alleged that the leadership was bureaucratic and failing to train the membership in Marxism-Leninism
Marxism-Leninism
Marxism–Leninism is a communist ideology, officially based upon the theories of Marxism and Vladimir Lenin, that promotes the development and creation of a international communist society through the leadership of a vanguard party over a revolutionary socialist state that represents a dictatorship...
. The three left to form Communist Forum, often known by the name of their newsletter, Fightback. They have ceased to be active.
Following the start of the Palestinian
Palestinian people
The Palestinian people, also referred to as Palestinians or Palestinian Arabs , are an Arabic-speaking people with origins in Palestine. Despite various wars and exoduses, roughly one third of the world's Palestinian population continues to reside in the area encompassing the West Bank, the Gaza...
second intifada
Al-Aqsa Intifada
The Second Intifada, also known as the Al-Aqsa Intifada and the Oslo War, was the second Palestinian uprising, a period of intensified Palestinian-Israeli violence, which began in late September 2000...
in September 2000, in October the RCG joined a group which had begun to picket Marks and Spencer in Manchester over their support for Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, and helped to spread this to other cities. Over the next six years pickets of Marks and Spencer were held in places including Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
, Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
, Dundee
Dundee
Dundee is the fourth-largest city in Scotland and the 39th most populous settlement in the United Kingdom. It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firth of Tay, which feeds into the North Sea...
, Newcastle
Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne...
, Stockton
Stockton-on-Tees
Stockton-on-Tees is a market town in north east England. It is the major settlement in the unitary authority and borough of Stockton-on-Tees. For ceremonial purposes, the borough is split between County Durham and North Yorkshire as it also incorporates a number of smaller towns including...
, Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough is a large town situated on the south bank of the River Tees in north east England, that sits within the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire...
, Durham
Durham
Durham is a city in north east England. It is within the County Durham local government district, and is the county town of the larger ceremonial county...
, Rochdale
Rochdale
Rochdale is a large market town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amongst the foothills of the Pennines on the River Roch, north-northwest of Oldham, and north-northeast of the city of Manchester. Rochdale is surrounded by several smaller settlements which together form the Metropolitan...
, Nottingham
Nottingham
Nottingham is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England. It is located in the ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire and represents one of eight members of the English Core Cities Group...
, Leicester
Leicester
Leicester is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England, and the county town of Leicestershire. The city lies on the River Soar and at the edge of the National Forest...
, across London, Stratford and Brighton
Brighton
Brighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain...
. Throughout this period the flagship store on Oxford Street
Oxford Street
Oxford Street is a major thoroughfare in the City of Westminster in the West End of London, United Kingdom. It is Europe's busiest shopping street, as well as its most dense, and currently has approximately 300 shops. The street was formerly part of the London-Oxford road which began at Newgate,...
in London was picketed weekly, and in many other places pickets were sustained on a regular basis.
In 2005 and 2006, the RCG stepped up their work in solidarity with asylum seekers, supporting the setting up of UNITY
UNITY (asylum seekers organisation)
UNITY is a union of by asylum seekers established in the Glasgow, Scotland, in 2005 to ensure that the human rights of asylum seekers and sans papiers in the UK are upheld...
, an asylum seekers' union, in Glasgow, and helping to establish Tyneside Community Action for Refugees (TCAR) in Newcastle and Gateshead
Gateshead
Gateshead is a town in Tyne and Wear, England and is the main settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead. Historically a part of County Durham, it lies on the southern bank of the River Tyne opposite Newcastle upon Tyne and together they form the urban core of Tyneside...
and the North West Asylum Seekers Defence Group (NWASDG) in Manchester (for a selection of reports from this period see 1, 2).
Opposition to government spending cuts
In October 2010 the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government announced cuts in state spending of £81bn, £11bn greater than the £70bn cuts which the preceding Labour government had said in autumn 2009 were necessary. There would be cuts in state benefits, central government departments and a 26% reduction in central government funding for local government. In its newspaper, the RCG said the ruling class "has declared class war.". The RCG adopted a slogan "No cuts – full stop!" It condemned Labour-run councils implementing the cuts. It described Labour councillors voting for such cuts as "class enemies", opposing any alliance with them against the coalition government. It criticised those on the left who sought unity at any price with such politicians.As a part of the government cuts, the coalition announced plans to simultaneously cut much university funding and dramatically increase the tuition fees charged to students. This move led to widespread student protests taking place in November and December 2010
2010 UK student protests
The 2010 UK student protests were a series of demonstrations that began in November 2010 in several areas of the United Kingdom, with the focal point of protests centred in London. The initial event was the largest student protest in the UK since the Labour government first proposed the Teaching...
, during which demonstrators occupied the central Jeremy Bentham Room
Jeremy Bentham
Jeremy Bentham was an English jurist, philosopher, and legal and social reformer. He became a leading theorist in Anglo-American philosophy of law, and a political radical whose ideas influenced the development of welfarism...
in University College London
University College London
University College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and the oldest and largest constituent college of the federal University of London...
(UCL) for several weeks. The protesting UCL students (some of whom were RCG members or supporters) organised a panel discussion to be held during which representatives from several leftist organisations (including the RCG's David Yaffe as well as figures from the Green Party of England and Wales
Green Party of England and Wales
The Green Party of England and Wales is a political party in England and Wales which follows the traditions of Green politics and maintains a strong commitment to social progressivism. It is the largest Green party in the United Kingdom, containing within it various regional divisions including...
, Socialist Appeal
Socialist Appeal
Socialist Appeal is the publication of a British Trotskyist organisation operating within the Labour Party which was founded by Ted Grant and Alan Woods after they were expelled from the Militant tendency. The organisation is popularly known as the Socialist Appeal group, and publishes a monthly...
and Workers Power
Workers Power
Workers' Power is a Trotskyist group which is the British section of the League for the Fifth International. The group publishes the magazine Workers Power and distributed the English language journal Fifth International.-Origin:...
) discussed the reforms then being made by the government and university authorities to higher education in Britain.
Fight Racism! Fight Imperialism! newspaper
The newspaper of the Revolutionary Communist Group, Fight Racism! Fight Imperialism! (FRFI) commemorated 25 years of publication with issue Number 182 December 2004/January 2005. The paper is still published every two months.Commenting on the reason for titling the paper as such, David Yaffe noted that it was chosen because it was in "itself a political statement. It declares that fighting racism and imperialism must be at the heart of any socialist movement in imperialist Britain."