In his letter to Weekly Worker, no. 812, Alan Johnstone attacks my claim that Marx and Engels would have been supporters of an ‘internationalism from below’ strategy from the time of the First International. On Alan’s first point, that what socialists should do in 2010 does not depend on what Marx and Engels may or…
Editorial
What has happened to the Left since the Westminster 2005 General Election This year’s SSP Conference takes place in the context of the run-up to a likely General Election in May. Despite the opportunities provided to socialists by the deepest crisis of capitalism since the 1930’s, the Left in the UK is weaker than it…
Report Of The Second Republican Socialist Convention, 13.2.10
Below is the report of the 2nd Republican Socialist Convention. This was hosted by the Socialist Alliance London on 13.2.10. Both Colin Fox and Allan Armstrong spoke for the SSP. The report is followed by Allan’s contribution. This produced a response from Nick Rogers of the CPGB-WW which is also posted along with Allan’s reply. 1.…
Campaign To Fight The Blacklist And To Support Brian Higgins
Last autumn, the official journal of the construction workers’ union, UCATT, revealed the shocking details of a Blacklist operated by The Consulting Association (TCA), on behalf of a group of named construction companies. 3200 named construction worker trade unionists are on the list. This was followed by an impressive article, Boys from the Blacklist, published…
Report of the First Global Commune Day
January 16th 2010, Out of the Blue Centre, Edinburgh Over the last year, comrades in the RCN have become more and more aware of the ideas and activities of comrades In The Commune, based south of the border. Like many on the left, older members of Commune have been round the block a bit in…
SSP and Elections
Members of the SSP have been asked to contribute documents on electoral strategy, here is a contribution from the RCN. A Contribution To The Discussions Arising From The Glasgow North East By-Election 1. How did the SSP publicly assess the by-election result? The Republican Communist Network (RCN) welcomes the decision of the SSP Executive Committee…
Global Commune Meeting
The Global Commune It is now 20 years since the collapse of the Berlin Wall. For most people this signalled the end of communism. However, there has always been another view, which understands that the USSR and its satellites and emulators were never communist, socialist or workers’ states. They represented the negation of communism. The…
The Need for Socialist Unity
A contribution from Allan Armstrong of the Republican Communist Network. This is immediately followed by a supplement analysing the European election results, which assesses the current balance of political forces in the EU. In Ireland, England, Scotland and Wales the main lesson of the 2009 European elections is clear – we need Socialist unity. In…
Left Unity
The SWP have published an open letter on Left Unity in the past few weeks. There is a reply from the Commune which the RCN is in broad agreement with. We reprint it below. Reply to socialist workers party’s open letter to the left Comrades, We write in reply to your Open Letter to the…
SSP Conference Bulletin March 2009
The RCN urges Conference delegates and visitors to apply the following principles when they discuss, debate and vote on this year’s Conference motions. Do they enhance the political independence of our class? Do they promote greater democracy both in our own organisations and in wider society? Do they develop genuine internationalism? Do they oppose British…