Party & Programme
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
Beyond the ‘Epstein class’
03 Sep 2026
We need the truth. We need science. Marxists should abjure conspiracy theories about all-powerful cabals, no matter how popular they are on the internet, argues Paul Demarty
Standing for open debate
03 Sep 2026
‘No-platforming’ and speech controls are rooted in the cross-class politics of popular frontism and only serve to strengthen the right, argues Mike Macnair. This is an edited version of his talk at CU 2026
An honest and open culture
03 Sep 2026
People Before Profit has enjoyed modest success as a loose alliance. But if we really want revolution and socialism it must, argues Anne McShane, aspire to become a programmatically rooted mass party of the working class
Going through the left
03 Sep 2026
The DSA has grown significantly since 2016 and has recently won a string of congressional nominations. Communists have won increasing influence too. Matthew Campbell-Strupp discussed the perspectives of building a mass Communist Party in America at the opening session of CU 2026
Aping Harvey Weinstein
06 Aug 2026
Demanding that elected members of the central executive committee sign non-disclosure agreements is surely a sign of complete political, moral and organisational bankruptcy, says Carla Roberts. Jeremy Corbyn and Karie Murphy ought to hang their heads in shame
No bans, no coalitions
30 Jul 2026
There are calls to end the ‘firewall’ against the AfD, there are calls to ban it too. Carla Roberts says we need independent working class politics and our own ‘firewall’ against coalitions with bourgeois parties
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
Polemic, not shibboleths
23 Jul 2026
Overthrowing capitalism entails a culture of radical free speech, not least in the left and our own movement. Paul Demarty responds to the ‘N-word affair’
Principles and guidelines
16 Jul 2026
Ever expanding rules, elaborate procedures and three-minute limits are a gift to bureaucrats and the full-time apparatus. Mike Macnair argues for openness, time for debate and the right to organise around alternative perspectives
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