Party & Programme
End the cycle of splits
24 May 2012
If the left is to build a serious political organisation it will have to facilitate internal dissent, writes Mike Macnair. And that will require both majorities and minorities to act responsibly
Lifelong friend and comrade
04 Apr 2024
David Douglass remembers Tom Kilburn, August 25 1946 - March 17 2024
Same old same old
04 Apr 2024
Having abandoned clause four Fabianism, the Woods-Sewell tendency has issued a manifesto with a view to grandly renaming their oil slick international. Mike Macnair asks what, if anything, is new about their Revolutionary Communist International
We deserve better
28 Mar 2024
Owen Jones has a dodgy record and still shows no understanding of what the anti-Zionism equals anti‑Semitism big lie is all about, says Carla Roberts
Repeating past failures
28 Mar 2024
Socialist Appeal’s proposed ‘Revolutionary Communist Party’ claims to offer a ‘clean break with the sects’. In fact, the proposal is a mere repetition of the method of the confessional sects, argues Mike Macnair
Ten thousand years of sorrow
21 Mar 2024
Class exploitation and war go hand in hand. Jack Conrad explores origins, Greek warriors, Christian theology and the widely held idea that Marx and Engels urged the backing of the lesser evil
Delusions of ‘official optimism’
21 Mar 2024
Socialist Appeal has discarded its ‘clause four’ Fabianism and made a ‘communist turn’, all explained by heady talk of a coming revolutionary crisis. Mike Macnair assesses its perspectives
Distrust your government
14 Mar 2024
What should the communist position be on defence of existing states, national self-determination and war? Marc Mulholland based his talk to Communist University Spring 2024 on this study
We need political action
29 Feb 2024
What comes first? Politics or economics? Mike Macnair responds to the criticisms of Robert Schlosser and upholds the general approach of the Marx-Engels team and their strategy of revolutionary patience
The wealth of nature
29 Feb 2024
Despite tailing the climate crisis movement, some on the left still think of labour as the source of all wealth. Jack Conrad spells out the ABCs for the SWP and the IST
Deal with the arguments
22 Feb 2024
The left needs to stop tailing spontaneity and start thinking strategically. Mike Macnair takes issue with Steve Bloom’s canonisation of Luxemburg and criticisms of democratic republicanism
Unseating the Right Hon Sir Keir
22 Feb 2024
In a bit of political theatre, two campaigns have selected Andrew Feinstein to contest Keir Starmer’s seat in the forthcoming general election. Carla Roberts reports
Monkey see, monkey do
08 Feb 2024
Revolution or vapourware? Paul Demarty assesses brain-computer interfaces and Elon Musk’s hype
Farcical Labour Party mark two
08 Feb 2024
Tusc’s February 3 convention was, by any objective assessment, an abject failure. Most of the organisations represented amount to no more than political dust, reports Carla Roberts
Communist unity and its refuseniks
25 Jan 2024
We must reject bureaucratic centralism, sects of one and diplomatic unity-mongering. Instead, we must uphold the right to engage in sharp polemics and form factions, says Mike Macnair. This is an edited version of his January 21 Online Communist Forum talk
Communists and holy war
18 Jan 2024
While the past should not and cannot be mapped onto the present, Jack Conrad argues that the approach taken by Comintern to the Muslim east contains many useful lessons - if, that is, we retain our critical faculties