This issue is obviously centred on Your Party, which is the most important development in the British working-class movement for many years, and despite numerous problems, appears to be taking root around the country in a manner that is very encouraging. It was not a surprise to us however, as we were well aware that the mass base of the Corbyn movement had not disappeared despite the Zionist/Neoliberal sabotage that drove that mass base out of the Labour Party, it never dissipated, but went into a kind of abeyance/exile, and reconstituted itself dramatically when Your Party was announced in August, when 800,000 expressed interest. Anyway, the progress of the party has since been interrupted by interference by outside forces, which have caused setbacks, but it is still developing. The lead article contains our extensive analysis of that development.
We also have a short programmatic document titled “A Revolutionary Platform for Your Party” which contains an amended version of a platform originally proposed by the Spartacist League/Britain, to which they invited amendments. The original platform contained in our view some serious omissions, most notably in our view an adaptation to right-wing populist anti-immigration sentiment, and not coincidentally, the lack of any demands for how to fight fascism. They invited amendments and discussions about their original platform; we consider our version a considerable improvement, so we too invite similar engagement from revolutionary-minded individuals and groups.
There is an extensive political reply to a former leading member of our tendency who broke with us recently after several years involvement. While we regret his leaving, which we do consider to be a result of some kind of social pressure regarding our strong anti-Zionist politics, we do consider his criticisms to be worthy of a full response, and indeed ironically an opportunity to further develop our understanding of part of the Jewish left who adapt to liberal Zionism and are inclined to try to ‘cancel’ Marxist analysis of the ethnocentric social base of the Zionist movement internationally, an attitude we consider to be social-imperialist and therefore anti-communist in its thrust. This aspect is elaborated at some length in the article.
We have a commentary on the current crisis of Western imperialism, which is convulsing the world and sometimes at least giving at least the impression that World War 3 is breaking out. We deal with the war in Ukraine, with China, with the Gaza genocide, and lastly with Trump’s threats to invade Venezuela, which have already resulted in brutal murders of many fishermen from that country while US imperialism pretends to be killing drug traffickers. An outrage, that could portend a new Vietnam-style war in South America.
And we have a statement from our Brazilian comrades, jointly with other leftists including some from East Timor, to the COP30 environmental summit, which is being held in Brazil, that links the need for resistance to the capitalist despoilation of the Amazon rainforest with the struggle against imperialism more generally, particularly against Trump’s threat against Venezuela.
