Party & Programme > Marxist unity
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
Rebellion that never was
23 Jul 2026
Opposition forces on the CEC might actually constitute a small majority now. But they have neither the organisational cohesion nor the politics required to carry out the revolution that is needed, explains Carla Roberts
Break from failed nostrums
23 Jul 2026
Decision-making must be removed from the hands of the full-time apparatus and take place at the appropriate level. This necessarily involves a narrowing of choices. Mike Macnair concludes his series on procedural principles by discussing the advantages of democratic centralism
Final death throes
16 Jul 2026
Rebellion on the YP leadership cannot save the Corbyn party, says Carla Roberts - and not only because it will continue to be dominated by his right-hand woman, Karie Murphy
Karie’s clampdown and a mini-me
09 Jul 2026
The botched suspension of three members of YP’s central executive committee is yet another sign of suicidal control-freakery. But, says Carla Roberts, there is a general problem on the left when it comes to free speech
Legalism and labyrinthine rules
02 Jul 2026
Neither Major Henry M Robert nor Lord (Walter) Citrine provide the approach needed by the revolutionary working class. Mike Macnair critiques the widely accepted parliamentary forms of decision-making in the third of a series of articles
Time is on our side
25 Jun 2026
Quick decision-making is perfectly understandable during civil war conditions. But to create unity, prevent irresponsible splits and to educate the party and the working class, provision must be made for extensive debate. Mike Macnair continues to explore procedural principles
Centrality of democracy
18 Jun 2026
Too many on the left consider lengthy debates, polemics, decision-making votes and minority rights a diversion from the ‘real struggle’. A fundamental error. Mike Macnair begins a series of articles
Statements from Connections Convention
11 Jun 2026
Another fine mess
11 Jun 2026
Corbyn’s Your Party has finally started to set up some tightly-controlled branches. Meanwhile most of the left and much of the membership has long gone. Carla Roberts reports
The universal elixir
28 May 2026
Supposedly the left does not lack fighting spirit. No, what it lacks is a shared understanding of what it is fighting for. But don’t worry, Nicholas Keats has discovered the solution that will serve social democrats and revolutionary communists alike: decommodification
Socialism requires democracy
07 May 2026
We on the left are a minority, we Marxists are a minority of that minority and we partyists are a minority of that minority. How do we change that? Not, argues Mike Macnair, by silencing ourselves through factional bans and speech controls
New proscriptions for old
30 Apr 2026
Claudia Webbe, Tristan Colum and Duncan Chapel have all declared war on the curse of faction and division. In each case it amounts to using dead Marxists to silence living Marxists. Mike Macnair defends political democracy and the right to organise
Agreeing the best model
16 Apr 2026
To stand or not to stand in elections has long divided the left. Marx argued for standing. But on what programme, around what issues? On April 11 the Netherlands Communistisch Platform held a day-school to discuss ‘Marxism and electoralism’. Mike Macnair and Rogier Specht provided introductions
Funeral games
16 Apr 2026
Secret votes, gagging orders and hunting down whistleblowers. Yet, apart from rotten politics, there is nothing to hide. By imposing a needless bureaucratic dictatorship and purging the left, the Corbyn clique is killing what it imagines it is protecting. Carla Roberts reports
Thou shalt not criticise Karie
26 Mar 2026
CEC members may not ‘misrepresent’ or ‘publicly oppose or undermine a decision’. Nor may they pass on ‘confidential’ information or ‘personally attack’ officers. The CEC’s code of conduct is a bureaucrat’s dream. It is designed to silence all and every opposition. Carla Roberts reports