Welcome to Fight Racism! Fight Imperialism!, the newspaper of the Revolutionary Communist Group (RCG). This issue comes out at a time of serious challenge for working class and oppressed people everywhere. Even those in the wealthiest countries are experiencing deepening repression, climate catastrophe, militarism and racism. The choice is yours: will you agonise, or will you organise and join the fightback?
Here in Britain, the ruling class has pinned its hopes on the Labour Party’s latest leader, Andy Burnham. The imperialists are trusting Burnham to push ahead with the ruthless programme that his predecessor, Keir Starmer, failed to make satisfying progress on (p6). This drive to war and rearmament means attacks on the working class, in the form of merciless cuts to public services and disability benefits – young people will be the first targets of this ruling class initiative. Behind this programme is the sickness of British capitalism, decaying and parasitic, with the defence of its imperialist interests dem-anding ever more aggression.
This programme cannot succeed without a propaganda campaign and legal instruments to repress anyone who resists. The National Security Act (p4), which passed with barely a whimper of opposition in Parliament, guarantees more state repression – not only against people who are suspected of being in league with Iran, China or Russia, but undoubtedly also those who stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people against genocide (p5). Such courageous individuals include our comrade Sarah Cotte of the SOAS 2, taken to court in June for her defence of the Palestinians’ right to armed resistance (p3). Having failed to convict her, the court has now directed a retrial – we will keep fighting, and we will win.
Also waiting on Burnham’s desk will be the question of how to push forward the British ruling class’s war on migrants. The Immigration and Asylum Bill is the latest weapon in this war, and with Burnham’s reappointment of Shabana Mahmood as Home Secretary, more attacks on refugees and asylum seekers are coming (p16). British capitalism’s need for racism and discrimination, to ensure a steady supply of workers all but defenceless against exploitation, will be eagerly served by this racist government. The time for militant resistance is long overdue.
In these times it is crucial to uphold the example of peoples who have revolted against imperialism and won. The RCG has always defended socialist Cuba. As we prepare to mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of Cuban revolutionary Fidel Castro by sending comrades to Cuba to break the illegal US blockade and deliver material aid, we ask FRFI readers to donate what they can to this brigade. Solidarity is needed now more than ever, as the Cuban people face a monstrous threat from the US Trump administration which has starved the island of all fuel supplies, leading to immense hardship. It is in this context of total siege that we analyse the most significant economic reforms introduced by the Cuban government in decades; always from a position of unconditional solidarity with the Cuban people and the Communist Party which leads them (p8-9).
Venezuela, Iran, Cuba, Palestine, Lebanon – imperialism is on the warpath. How does the ruling class keep getting away with its serial crimes? The answer is simple when you consider what passes for the ‘leadership’ of the left in Britain and internationally. These self-serving opportunists throw their lot in with warmongers and imperialists, supporting the utterly abhorrent Labour Party and its trade union backers (p7) while hypocritically condemning and lecturing revolutionaries like the Communist Party of Cuba (p10). The RCG exists to expose and defeat these fake socialists so that a new revolutionary leadership can be born.
