13.11.2025

Thesis and synthesis

After a lengthy period of consideration, the November 9 CPGB membership aggregate debated and adopted theses on trans liberation. The other subject for discussion was the forthcoming Your Party founding conference in Liverpool and the danger of a witch-hunt against the organised left. Ian Spencer reports

For some in the confessional sects, trans rights has emerged as a defining issue - a ‘red line’ even. The CPGB is justly proud of its Draft programme, which declares:

Gay men, lesbians, transgender people, etc have often been scapegoated or persecuted. They are portrayed as threats to timeless religious values, sexual norms and the nuclear family - the basic economic unit of capitalist society.

Bigoted attitudes divide the working class and aid those advocating the authoritarian state. The working class needs to be mobilised in order to defend and advance sexual freedom.¹

This principled stance is even more important in the light of the Supreme Court decision in April 2025, which declared that, in the Equality Act 2010, the terms, ‘man’, ‘woman’ and ‘sex’, “were references to biological sex” (meaning “the sex of the person at birth”).² This conservative position has been welcomed by some, such as the Morning Star’s Communist Party of Britain and the John Rees-Lindsay German Counterfire outfit. Meanwhile, the Socialist Workers Party, RS21 and others defend the old liberal consensus.

Draft theses

To provide clarity, comrade Mike Macnair was commissioned by the Provisional Central Committee to write his ‘Draft theses on communism and trans liberation.’³ These were published in Weekly Worker⁴ and discussed initially at our May 25 aggregate, before being amended and adopted on November 9.

Comrade Macnair highlighted the importance of the theses, given that trans people have been subjected to a witch-hunt in recent years, particularly since the trans question was used in the USA as a dishonest ‘entering wedge’ issue to divide the Democratic Party and has subsequently been used in a similar way in the UK.

Of central importance are state operations directed against trans people, as well as women, ethnic groups and the working class. Therefore, the theses are connected to our approach, which is to have a minimum programme of demands, achievable in the context of the struggle against capitalism. However, it is also part of our maximum programme, which is the achievement of a communist society, where production would be “from each according to their ability, to each according to their needs”, without social classes and the need for a state.

Comrade Macnair discussed the amendments submitted on the draft theses. A series of amendments submitted by comrade Stan Keable was accepted following discussion by the PCC as being in keeping with the theses overall and offering useful clarification on various points. Comrade Keable also posed several questions regarding the theses, which comrade Macnair was happy to clarify.

A further amendment to the theses was submitted by comrade Carla Roberts, which included a resolution to add to the existing Draft programme a commitment to “Abolish the requirement to register gender on public and state documents. For an increase in the availability of sex-neutral facilities. Immediate and easy access to fully-funded gender clinics offering advice and medical support, up to and including gender reassignment surgery.”

This amendment was discussed by the PCC and opposed, partly on the grounds that the Draft programme is long enough and that even big questions such as the Labour Party, the war in Iraq and Israel-Palestine are not dealt with in the Draft programme but in separate theses. It was also opposed on the grounds that it was imprecise regarding the availability of sex-neutral facilities and fully-funded gender clinics. So, for example, the funding of gender clinics is a demand for a properly funded NHS, to which we are already committed. Moreover, these commitments are in the ‘Communism and trans liberation’ theses and do not also need to be in the Draft programme.

In response, comrade Roberts defended her amendment. She pointed out that there are specific commitments on women and youth in the Draft programme, without them ever being regarded as a concession to intersectionalism. Her amendment is simply a recognition of the difficulty that trans people face, when it comes to excessive waiting times for gender-affirming procedures.

Comrade Roberts went on to argue that trans issues are important for many on the left and are playing a divisive role in debates around Your Party and beyond. Moreover, it is an issue that is not likely to go away any time soon. This is our opportunity to show our solidarity with trans people, while not conceding on intersectionality, quotas or freedom of speech.

There followed contributions from several comrades both for and against the amendment and it was decided to vote on the amendment in parts. The three separate sentences were voted on and the first sentence - amending our Draft programme to include the abolition of the requirement to register one’s gender on official documents - was carried. The second sentence, which would have committed the CPGB to an increase in sex-neutral facilities, was narrowly defeated and the third sentence was more fully defeated. The aggregate then voted on the theses as amended and they were carried unopposed.

Your Party

The founding of Your Party by Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana presents a historic opportunity for the development of a mass party to the left of the Labour Party. However, the way this has been handled has been a debacle. It is also taking place against the background of a rapidly growing Green Party, following the election of Zack Polanski as its leader. Clearly the Green Party has radically shifted to the left … while remaining a party of the petty bourgeoisie.

Comrade Roberts gave a comprehensive report on developments in Your Party and the chaos that has ensued because of the all too apparent split with Zarah Sultana. She has positioned herself well to the left of Corbyn.

Indeed, the small grouping of ‘independent’ MPs, including Corbyn, who mostly have declared their opposition to genocide in Palestine, have proved to be in many other ways to the right of the Green Party and certainly opposed to socialism - or even the use of the term, ‘left’. Nonetheless, we should anticipate that the independent MPs are likely to press for an electoral alliance with the Greens.

One consequence of the shambles of the launch of Your Party is that many who previously might have joined are likely to have shifted their support to the Green Party, notwithstanding Polanski’s previously well-known opposition to Corbyn and his support for the weaponising of anti-Semitism against the left in the process.⁵

Comrade Roberts drew attention to the Democratic Socialists within Your Party and pointed out that some of the demands put forward by Sultana are consistent with the DS. However, Sultana has also expressed support for the Zoomocracy implicit in her version of ‘one member, one vote’, which stands in contrast to a fully democratised party, with accountable, recallable, elected delegates from branches.

The financial problems associated with Sultana’s refusal to hand over all funds from the first iteration of Your Party launched by her, which recruited an estimated 25,000, were discussed by comrade Roberts. One implication is that a potential funding shortfall may be used as a justification for limiting the founding conference.

Clearly, the Corbyn faction, partly exemplified by Karie Murphy, is determined to keep out organised Marxists from Your Party. This opens up the prospect that Your Party will be less democratic than Labour and come into being with a witch-hunt of the left already in place at the start!

This can be further seen by the intervention of former trade union bureaucrat Mark Serwotka, who is opposed to no-platforming the gender-critical and his own so-called ‘Democratic Bloc’, but clearly is in favour of no-platforming the organised left. It is crucial that Your Party should be able to have organised factions that can campaign for a socialist programme within a mass working class party.

It will also be vital to oppose attempts to impose quotas on the YP executive, which might, on the face of it, be an attempt to limit the influence of cis men, but in practice will be used to marginalise communist and healthy left voices. Despite the pressure for intersectional politics in the DS, it is worth joining, said comrade Roberts, certainly for the time being - especially in the light of its opposition to imperialism and Zionism, which has blocked the involvement of the social imperialist Alliance for Workers’ Liberty.

Contributions and comments on comrade Robert’s report were supportive and her valuable contribution made to drafting a critique of the founding documents of YP was acknowledged.

Comrade Jack Conrad observed that the political waters are as unpredictable as ever. It is quite possible that YP will break up and effectively be stillborn, leading to widespread demoralisation. He went on to note, however, the complete absence of anything approaching democracy, notably in Reform in the UK, as well as with Jean-Luc Mélenchon in France. Nonetheless, Reform leads opinion polls in the UK and La France Insoumise dominates the left in France.

Comrade Roberts believes it cannot be taken for granted that Sultana would be defeated in a leadership contest with Corbyn, as the shine has certainly come off Saint Jeremy in recent months, thanks to the undemocratic shenanigans at the top of Your Party.

Crucially, as comrade Conrad reported, the Communist Platform will be launched in Liverpool - not merely to bear witness, but to exert an influence in favour of democracy and genuine socialism.

1. CPGB Draft programme p36.↩︎

2. commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-10259.↩︎

3. ‘Communism and trans liberation’: weeklyworker.co.uk/worker/1536/communism-and-trans-liberation.↩︎

4. weeklyworker.co.uk/worker/1540/trans-rights-and-open-polemic.↩︎

5. C Roberts ‘Red-green hot air’ Weekly Worker October 9: weeklyworker.co.uk/worker/1556/red-green-hot-air.↩︎