The party accepted a position at its 2012 congress that there are no separate English and Scottish nations, but rather, when those nations were at the point of developing as modern capitalist economies, their ruling classes joined to form a British nation.[12] Though the CPGB-ML believes in local democracy, it sees the Scottish independence movement as diversionary from building a working-class movement across the historic nation of Great Britain and therefore opposes it. It claims that proposals set forward for Scottish independence will not break the Union, the British state, or the British army in any significant manner.[13] In its opposition to Scottish independence, it stands at odds with the Scottish Socialist Party,[14] the Socialist Workers Party[15] and the Socialist Party (England and Wales).[citation needed]
At its 8th congress in September 2018, the party adopted a motion opposing "discrimination on grounds of race, sex or sexual proclivity" but condemning "identity politics, including LGBT ideology" as "reactionary and anti-working class", and declaring members promoting identity politics liable to expulsion.[20] The CPGB-ML have described identity politics as a "reactionary nightmare" imposed by the bourgeoisie.[21] This had led to allegations of transphobia by other organisations belonging to the British left.[22]
The party opposes Zionism and has called for the dissolution of the State of Israel, which it labels as an apartheid state.[35][36] It called for a defeat of British troops in Iraq and Afghanistan and a movement of direct action and non-cooperation among British working people in order to exert political influence.[37] It was one of many anti-war parties which opposed NATO actions in Libya and Syria and supported the governments of Muammar Gaddafi and Bashar al-Assad.[citation needed]
In 2011, the CPGB-ML party chairman Harpal Brar visited Libya during the war to express solidarity with the Libyan people in their fight against NATO.[38] The CPGB-ML had joined the Stop the War Coalition shortly after the party's formation in 2004, but was ultimately expelled from the coalition. The CPGB-ML said that this was due to its attacks on the STWC leadership's positions on Libya and Syria, which it characterised as "pro-imperialist".[39]
The CPGB-ML's foreign policy stance includes the defence of the legacy of the late ousted President of Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe.[40]
The CPGB-ML also supports the government of North Korea and what it called its anti-imperialist stance in April 2013, as well as its opposition to Western efforts to discourage the state from acquiring nuclear weapons.[41][42]
The CPGB-ML did not condemn the 2011 England riots, but instead characterised them as a rudimentary form of anti-capitalist resistance that lacked adequate leadership and direction.[47] The CPGB-ML is opposed to immigration controls, which it holds are measures to misdirect workers and blame each other for the crisis rather than the bourgeoisie.[48]
An international barbecue which invites members from friendly parties, unionists, and representatives from countries the party supports, particularly North Korea and Cuba, as the barbecue is held near the anniversary of the Korean War and the storming of the Moncada Barracks.[citation needed]
The CPGB-ML holds May Day parades with Joseph Stalin's portrait in London, such as in 2008 and 2010, respectively.
The party was known for being the only party to carry a banner of Joseph Stalin, including a quote from Stalin, every year, until 2019, on 1 May International Workers' Day march in London.[55] The quote is from Foundations of Leninism, a book written by Stalin, saying: "Either place yourself at the mercy of capital, eke out a wretched existence as of old and sink lower and lower, or adopt a new weapon – this is the alternative imperialism puts before the vast masses of the proletariat. Imperialism brings the working class to revolution."[55][56]
The first election fought by party members was the 2018 Birmingham city council election. Three member-candidates stood under the registered label/sub-party "Birmingham Worker". Their best result was in the Balsall Heath West ward with 6.1% of the vote and third place, ahead of local Greens and the Conservatives. In the Brandwood & King's Heath and Stirchley wards the others gained 0.89% and 1.62%, beating the local TUSC candidate in the former.[57][58]
The CPGB-ML welcomed the founding of the Workers Party of Britain (WPB) by former Labour and Respect party MPGeorge Galloway.[59] Many CPGB-ML members were active in the WPB. The vice-chair of the CPGB-ML Joti Brar, was also the deputy leader of the WPB.[60]
Prominent members
The CPGB-ML has a few members from the early days of the British communist movement and the original CPGB.[61][62]Isabel Crook, wife of David Crook, served as Honorary President before she died in 2023 aged 107. Both were communists who were in Spain during the Spanish Civil War and later went to work for Mao Zedong and the Chinese communists.[63][64] Veteran British communist Jack Shapiro, a veteran of the anti-revisionist movement and lifelong communist, was a member of the CPGB-ML until his death.[65]
For fourteen years, from the party's founding in 2004 until 2018, the party chairman was the retired university law lecturer, writer and businessman Harpal Brar. The party's vice-chairman and international secretary was Ella Rule, while the party's general secretary was Zane Carpenter.[66] At the 8th party congress in Birmingham in 2018 Harpal Brar stepped down as party chair and was replaced by Ella Rule. Zane Carpenter and Joti Brar became the party's vice chairs.[67]
Despite not being a member, the socialist politician, writer and broadcaster George Galloway has delivered multiple speeches to CPGB-ML events and conferences.[69]
^Collier, Mike (31 July 2014). "An Unlikely Revolutionary: Beness Aijo". Retrieved 21 January 2022. I am a member of the Marxist Leninist Communist party of Great Britain and our aim is socialism in Britain and elsewhere. We stand for public ownership of the means of production, so this is MI6 [British secret service] starting a campaign against me as part of a wider campaign against the communist movement.
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