28.06.2018

The party we need

Peter Manson is getting into the swing of this year's fundraising drive

After two weeks of the CPGB’s annual fundraising drive, the Summer Offensive, we are really getting into our stride. Our comrades are now contacting all our supporters, urging them to donate what they can.

However, the last seven days were a bit of a disappointment compared to the first week, when we raised £2,256. This time only a rather paltry £422 came our way, taking the overall total to £2,678 towards our £25,000 target. Still, lots of comrades have pledged large amounts and they have until August 25 to make that good. In the meantime, if you’re on our list of friendly contacts, expect to see an email landing in your in-box very soon - you may even get a phone call!

The biggest donor this week was JT, who made a £50 payment to the Weekly Worker - all donations to our paper are included in the overall total. There were also a couple of dozen smaller contributions - either to the CPGB or Weekly Worker - ranging from £5 to £40.

Mind you, this weekend our comrades will be out on the NHS demonstration in London, not just trying to raise money, but making the link between the health service we need and the kind of organisation that will fight for it most effectively - as part of the struggle for a totally new order.

The kind of organisation I mean is, of course, a Marxist party. And I’m not talking about the couple of dozen sects into which the revolutionary left in this country is split and divided - we need a single Communist Party, based on genuine democratic centralism, of which every dedicated comrade can be a member. Such a party would encourage open, public debate, with no requirement to agree with the leadership on everything or shut your mouth if you don’t.

There will always be differences, but the problem with the left has been its tendency to split over what are in reality questions of tactics or (often obscure) points of theory rather than matters of principle. Genuine democratic centralism means that contending views must be openly debated, but at the same time all comrades must abide by every agreed course of action.

Given the right conditions, there is no reason why members of all the currently competing groups could not be part of such a party. That is why we need to build the paper that fights for it and ensure that events like the CPGB’s forthcoming Communist University are a huge success. Let’s have the debates out in the open!

If you agree that we need the kind of party I’ve described, please support the organisation that is most dedicated to achieving it. Give us the cash we need to step up our work.

Peter Manson