Joint statement on Cuba

Memorandum of Understanding For The  Combined European & North American Support of  Cuba

The parties in support of this Memorandum recognise and condemn the illegal actions taken 
by the United States of America in regards to the blockade of Cuba and the occupation of 
Guantanamo Bay. The blatant disregard for the sovereignty of Cuba is the manifestation of 
the fear the bourgeoisie, notably the ruling class of the United States as a world superpower, 
holds in regards to the resilience and successes of the socialist project in Cuba. The 
Communist Party of Cuba has shown inspiring resolve against the warmongering capitalist 
menace to its north that is hellbent on the oppression of the Cuban people under their 
despotic empire. Communist parties across Europe and North America signing this 
Memorandum staunchly believe that the truest antidote to imperialism is every nation’s right 
to self-determination and Cuba deserves no less in its pursuit of achieving Communism as 
defined by the people of Cuba and their Communist Party. 
The global movement of Communism must be steadfast and organised in its efforts to 
support the Communist Party of Cuba and the Cuban people as they valiantly stand up to 
imperialist aggression. The signing parties of this memorandum signify their intent to:

1. Respect and champion the needs and wishes of the people and nation of Cuba. 
2. Commit to the education of their party/organisation members on Cuba's history, 
current events and relevant political theory. 
3. Pressure their respective government to vote in the United Nations to: 
a.  End the United States of America’s illegal blockade of Cuba. 
b. And end the illegal occupation of Guantanamo Bay, returning it to the Cuban 
government and recognise Guantanamo Bay as sovereign Cuban land. 
4. Commit to the creation and support of national protests in support of Cuba. 
5. Promote organised visits to Cuba in order to support the nation. 
6. Organise the logistics of humanitarian aid from Europe and North America 
collectively and by directive of the Cuban government. 
7. Challenge and campaign against the extraterritorial application of laws and sanctions 
from the United States of America on Cuba by financial and banking institutions in 
Europe, so that donations and monetary aid can be sent to Cuba from any nation. 

Signing parties: 

● Italian Communist Party (PCI) 

● The Federation of Young Italian Communists (FGCI) 

● Communist Party (Italy) 

● Communist Youth Federation (Italy) 

● Danish Communist Party 

● Left Party - Политичка Партија Левица (Macedonia)

● Hungarian Workers Party 

● New Communist Party of Britain

● League of Communist Youth (Belarus)  

● Kommunistesch Partei vu Lëtzebuerg  (Luxemburg)

● Communist party of Finland 

● Partito della Rifondazione Comunista - Sinistra Europea 

● German Communist Party 

● Partidul Socialist Român 

● Communist Party of Canada 

● Communist party of Bohemia and Moravia 

When the hurly-burly's done…

 So the battle of Holborn & St Pancras is over. Labour held the seat. The Greens did well and George Galloway’s intervention was a dismal failure. At the end of the day nothing surprised us. Labour was always the bookies’ favourite. Though their candidate was the lack-lustre leader of the local council Sagal Abdi-Wali clearly benefited from the “Burnham bounce” that has revived Labour’s fortunes across the country. She also had the full support of the Starmerite machine built up over the years when the former premier held the seat as well as the Blairite gang in the House of Commons who joined the local canvassing teams to get the traditional Labour vote out on the day. And on that day Labour held the seat with a comfortable majority – 13 points ahead of the nearest contender, the Green leader Zack Polanski.   The Greens, who were backed by the local Corbynistas, had high hopes. Some call them  “Tories on bikes” which is, perhaps, unfair as they are actually a liberal bourgeois trend that has largely sprung from the Liberal-Democrat milieu. In fact Polanski’s political career began when he joined the Liberal Democrats in 2015.
In practice they have little to offer working people. Like the Liberal-Democrats they echo the social demands of the middle strata but they have little to offer working people beyond the usual platitudes these politicians routinely churn out at election time to get the vote. They trumpet their support for the Palestinians. They pose as social-democrats. They take their campaign, led by their flamboyant leader, to the streets. They secured a 22.4 per cent swing in their favour on Thursday. But it wasn’t enough to beat Labour.
The Corbynistas, in the form of the Camden People’s Alliance, backed Polanski. But George Galloway did not. The maverick former Labour MP who now leads the Workers Party of Britain from self-imposed exile in China and the Russian Federation, fought a “remote” spoiler campaign against the Greens that would continue “unless the Greens make an offer we can't refuse". Though Galloway did not return to our shores to fight his corner his followers took up his call. But to no avail. Galloway got no more than a protest vote – 314 to be precise –  that the also-rans fight over in these sorts of polls.
Count Binface was on holiday but the Loonies fielded Barmy Brunch, the man who wears a baked-bean balaclava, who got 87 votes. And we can all take comfort from the fact that the misnamed “Communist League” – a former Trotskyist sect that now rabidly supports the Zionist entity got nine... 

Brussels bound

Like St Paul Andy Burnham is “all things to all men”. The Apostle was slowly making his way to Rome. Burnham, on the other hand, is on the road to Brussels and he’s clearly not sparing the horses. Those around him echo the talk of “resets” and “realignments” while Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, calls on Labour to take urgent action to rejoin the European customs union and pledge to return to the European Union without a second referendum if it wins the next election.
While most of the union bureaucrats are Remainers Labour’s ranks in parliament are more cautious. Hostility to the Common Market amongst their traditional community – that lost them the northern “Red Belt” at the last election – still has to be overcome. Reform UK has been rocked by funding scandals. Farage is down – but he’s still not out.  And the terms for Britain’s return to the EU that would resolve the problem of the asylum-seeking “boat people” have still to be settled. 
Within the ruling class the Brexiteers are in retreat. The dream of a trans-Atlantic free trade area has come to nothing. The US Democrats didn’t want to replace the Treaty of Rome with a ‘Treaty of Washington’ and it’s never going to happen under Trump or whoever takes his place when he goes. Closing ranks with Franco-German imperialism to counter Trump’s tariffs seems a better bet these days – and France and Germany’s current weakness can only serve the British interest should the UK sign up to the Treaty of Rome. If Canada joins even better. That just leaves the parliamentary opposition from the Tory Brexiteers, Reform UK and Restore Britain to be overcome along with the rag-bag of street gangs that use immigration to promote their racist and fascist agendas.
Labour’s overwhelming majority in the House of Commons and the guaranteed support of the Liberal Democrats, the Greens and the nationalist parties in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland mean that Parliament could agree to rejoin the European Union any time it wanted. But it would be political suicide given that public opinion is still evenly divided on the issue.
Changing the public mood is now top of the list on the Remainers’ agenda.
They’ll go for Nigel Farage first using the investigation into his dubious benefactors to try and drive him out of Parliament altogether. Dealing with the “Black Shorts” and all the other rubbish will be no problem for the police. Rejoiner arguments will be reduced to claims that it will once again allow ex-pats to return to care-free lives on the Spanish coast and give tourists delay-free travel into and across Europe. 
They’ll move once Labour has a clear lead over Reform in the opinion polls. Once again we’ll be told that new golden age beckons. Sadly Lexit, the left argument against the European Union never got off the ground. The alternative is the EU with its austerity regime, the highest food prices in the world, ham-strung unions and mass unemployment. Another Europe is indeed possible –  but it’s certainly not the European Union.

People’s China: Xinjiang today

The Grand Bazaar inÜrümqi, the capital of Xinjiang 

by John Maryon

 An important area of China's far west situated between Tibet, Mongolia, Kyrgyzstan, Afghanistan, India and Tajikistan is known as the Xinjiang Autonomous Region. It is home to the Uygur people and also others including Han Chinese, Kazakhs, Hui and Kyrgyz.  It's capital is called Urumqi, meaning beautiful pasture. The region has been described as a remote wilderness, with two magnificent mountain ranges, the vast Taklamakan desert, two major river basins and the Pamir Plateau with its breathtaking scenery.  This region of great diversity accounts for one sixth of China's land territory. 
The region has a total population of 25. 8 million. The Uygur ethnic population the largest with 11.6 million followed by the Han with 10.9 million.  The recently passed 'Ethnic Unity and Progress law' requires government, at all levels, to co-ordinate economic and social development planning and resource allocation to facilitate the development of embedded communities. Its aim is to create environments in which people of diverse ethnic backgrounds can work  share resources and live in harmony together. This philosophy, taken with the elimination of poverty, will encourage the seeds of unity to flourish.  The dark days when Western intelligence agencies were able to support terrorists are a thing of the past.  It is in the vibrant public plazas that one can witness the civic integration of of a successful multi-cultural society. 
The Uygurs are descended from the ancient Ouigour people who occupied the region during the Sui and Tang dynasties from 581AD.  At various times they were under the rule of the Turkic powers hence the modern language has Turkic roots.  Xinjiang's initial role in world history stems from its location which forms a commercial corridor linking China with Central Asia, the Middle East and Europe.  The ancient Silk Routes converged and passed through this vast region of region mountains, deserts and grasslands. The oases in the area became important trade hubs where merchants exchanged silk, spices, gold and silver. 
Today a New Silk Road forms crucial part of China's Belt & Road Initiative. It is an enormous infrastructure project that brings prosperity to the region, facilitates people to people exchanges and links China to Eurasia.  The heavily used Chongqing-Xinjiang-Europe railway passes through Xinjiang.  China's iconic high-speed rail network is now expanding rapidly into the area and currently a new line is under construction between Lanzhou and Zhangye which will complement the existing Lanzhou - Xinjiang line. The expanding rail system is opening up Xinjiang not only to the world but also allowing for isolated regions to come together. The Chinese government has announced further railway investments through its 14th five year plan including proposals for a high-speed link to Kyrgyzstan. 
The improved transport links have enabled farmers and growers to export greater quantities of fresh fruit and vegetables and so raise their incomes while gaining access to more consumer goods and services. A booming tourism sector has been created including cross border travel with Kazakhstan. Tourists can visit towns, ports, have grassland adventures, experience different ethnic cultures and have peaceful rural homestays. By balancing conservation with tourism growth the region is able ensure sustainable development. 
Xinjiang has the largest installed photovoltaic capacity of all Chinese regions and ranks third in wind=power output.  Designated as a national base for wind and solar energy it plays a key role in west to east power transmission in addition to powering local industrial clusters. An 800 Kv DC transmission line, 2260 km in length, was recently commissioned connecting Xinjiang's Hami region with Chongqing.  Xinjiang is able to export electricity to the energy hungry regions of Eastern China while receiving capital to fund its further development, increase employment and gain access to high technology products.
Xinjiang is also an exporter of fossil fuels. On 29th October 1955 a drilling rig struck oil at Karamay in a sparsely inhabited desert region. It was the first major oil field to be discovered after the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949.  Today the city has grown to be home for over 100,000 people. The question now is, in a region with an annual rainfall of less than 100mm, how to live when the black gold runs out.  The city is boldly reinventing it's economic structure by pivoting towards renewable energy with massive wind, solar and storage installations which will lay the foundations for the digital age by supporting powerful computer capacity. The city is also developing a tourist base that includes motor racing and exploring its unique geological features.
On March 21st this year the streets of towns in Xinjiang were transformed for the Roza Festival. People donned traditional costumes and danced in the International Grand Bazaar in Urumqi. There was a sense of warmth and solemnity. People were carrying gifts of fruit and pastries as they made their way to see old friends and relatives. Roza is an important religious holiday of the Islamic calendar. Festival traditions differ from one ethnic group to another each with their own rituals. 
The Xinjiang Autonomous Region has made enormous progress since it was established in 1955, following a short period of consolidation after the establishment of workers’ power in 1949.  Grinding poverty has been overcome, life expectancy has more than doubled and its various cultures have flourished.  The people can look forward to growing prosperity, comfort and security along with first class education and a package of full social care as they build their harmonious new world.  The Communist Party of China has made all this possible and the people are now full masters of their own destiny.  The story of modern Xinjiang is one of achievement. We wish their comrades every success for the future. 
Readers may be interested in a new publication  'Xinjiang Today' which deals with developments in the region. It can be contacted via email :   xt@cicgamericas.com

Big Trouble in High Holborn

 The Reform UK conference in Birmingham, TUC in Brighton and the Big Three party conferences that follow – yes the silly season is over for another year. But while the media caravan trapses around the country monitoring the rites and rituals of the mainstream parties it will return, as always, to London to report on the epic struggle taking place in the parliamentary constituency of Holborn & St Pancras – made vacant by the long-overdue and much welcomed departure of Sir Keir Starmer.
The new Labour government plainly hopes that the “Burnham bounce” will give them a resounding victory in the central London poll. We’ll know soon enough. The vote  takes place on Thursday 8th October.
The front-runner is Sagal Abdi-Wali, a former Somali child refugee who came to London in the 1990s, who is the leader of the Labour group on Camden council that covers much of the constituency. Though little-known outside the locality she is well-placed in what has, until now, been regarded as a safe Labour seat. She’s a protege of the former prime minister and can count on the full support of Starmer’s faction which still runs the constituency Labour party.
But though Abdi-Wali is odds-on to win she’s facing a fierce challenge from the Greens, who are fielding their flamboyant leader, Zack Polanski. He has  the support of the independent Camden People's Alliance, a Corbynista front led by Andrew Feinstein who came second when he stood against Starmer in the 2024 general election. 
Polanski, who likes to pose as a left social-democrat, will certainly run on a Corbynista-style platform with a particular focus on the genocide in Gaza – a topic Ms Abdi-Wali has still to address. But he’s been undermined by George Galloway, who’s thrown his hat into the ring vowing to return to our shores to scupper Polanski’s bid for glory. 
The maverick former MP who now leads the Workers’ Party of Britain says  Green “policies on drugs, abortion, euthanasia, sexuality, crime/punishment, illegal immigration, energy, the economy, Israel/Palestine, Ukraine, NATO, the EU are all profoundly alien to the mass of the British public”. That’s clearly debatable. 
Galloway’s clearly also going to make  Green support for British imperialism’s role in NATO’s proxy war against Russia in Ukraine a key plank in his campaign. But targeting the Greens rather than Labour has, arguably, made a Labour victory inevitable. It has certainly caused ructions in the WPB. His deputy, Chris Williamson, has resigned in protest – others may soon follow.
There are, of course, the also-rans. The Faragists and the Liberal-Democrats as well as the perrenial champions of lost causes standing for their fifteen minutes of fame. Beyond the fringe protesters will doubtless look to the Loonies, who are running a man wearing a baked-beans balaclava called Barmy Brunch – a school-teacher also known as Phin Adams. Sadly Count Binface will not be joining us on this occasion...    

A step in the right direction

The new Burnham government has moved against Israel banning imports from illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank and imposing sanctions on individuals and firms providing services to the Zionist settlers. Foreign Minister Ed Miliband said this marked a “new approach” to relations with Israel telling Parliament that the occupation of the West Bank as a whole was unlawful – going beyond the previous position that only described the settlements themselves as illegal.
For some Palestinians this was welcome news. For others it was simply too little, too late. For those who run the autonomous Palestinian authority in the West Bank the Burnham move was a turning point in UK-Palestine relations. For others it was just a sop to appease pro-Palestinian sentiment on the street and win back the support of the Muslim community in Britain.
Maybe yes, maybe no. In the United States Bloomberg news reports that British diplomats are privately telling the Trump team that the measures are “largely symbolic” and would have no material impact on Britain’s wider trade or security relationship with Israel. But the Burnham move has provoked a fit of rage in the Zionist camp. The Netanyahu government accused  the“morally distorted”  Miliband of “outrageous lies” and responded with a range of retaliatory measures, including the closure of the British consulate in occupied Arab East Jerusalem and the expulsion of British officials from a Gaza coordination centre. Leaders of Arab-hating Zionist settlers are calling for support for Argentina over the Malvinas/Falkland islands while the UK’s chief rabbi warns that Labour’s sanctions against Israeli settlers in the West Bank will put British Jews in danger.
The Israelis think they can do what they like as long as they have Western support. But the tide is turning even in the imperialist heartlands. France, the United Kingdom and Canada are among the 12 Western bloc countries that have backed restrictions on trade with illegal Israeli ⁠settlements in the occupied West Bank. And even in the United States opinion is changing with more and politicians – mainly in the Democrat camp – coming out in support of the Palestinians.
Month after month hundreds of thousands have marched through the streets of London demanding justice for the Palestinian Arabs. The Labour government has, at long last, taken heed of them and taken the first step in redressing the balance. It would never have happened under Starmer, let alone Tony Blair – the former Labour premier who sees no shame in acting as Trump’s gofer in the Middle East.
The genocidal war against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip must end. Israel must be forced out of the West Bank, Lebanon and Syria and the legitimate rights of the Palestinian Arabs restored including the right of return for all the refugees and the right to self-determination and an independent Palestinian state as envisaged by the United Nations back in the 1940s.
While not totally cosmetic the Burnham sanctions are, in fact, only a very modest step against Israeli interests. Nevertheless they are the thin end of the wedge and this is why the Zionists – and their masters in Washington – are outraged. This was the first step. Much more needs to be done.  

Iran and the Revolution

 by Ben Soton

Iran and The Revolution by Homa Katouzian ; Yale University Press New Haven and London 2026, 352 pp, illus; rrp:£20.
 
Homa Katouzian, an Iranian-born academic who lives in Britain, has written extensively on Iranian history. His latest book covers the Anglo-Soviet occupation during the Second World War, the short-lived Mossadegh government of 1953; the Shah’s ‘White Revolution’ of the 1960s and the 1979 revolution which led to the establishment of today’s Islamic Republic.        
It starts in August 1941 with  ‘Operation Countenance’ and the Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran.  Its objective was to depose the pro-German Reza Shah and prevent the Axis powers from gaining a foothold in a highly strategic area between British-dominated Iraq and the Soviet Union.  
It then moves on to 1953 and the progressive Mossadegh government’s nationalisation of the British-owned Anglo-Iranian Oil Company.  Katouzian claims that the  communist Tudeh Party opposed Mossadegh; which is not strictly true. Tudeh  gave Mossadegh’s National Front government critical backing and supported the nationalisation of Anglo-Iranian.  But he opposed Mossadegh’s bond scheme set up to counter the imperialism blockade that followed. What is staggering about the book is its failure to mention Operation Ajax. Operation Ajax was planned by Kermit Roosevelt the CIA agent who, with the help of MI6, organised gangs of armed thugs to bring down Mossadegh and replace him with the Reza Shah’s son, a willing tool of imperialism.  No study of the period is complete without mention of this imperialist plot.
The new Shah considered himself an enlightened despot. And in 1963 he embarked on the ‘White Revolution’ –  a modernisation programme that included limited land reform and improvements to the position of women. But being an enlightened despot is a contradiction in terms.The White Revolution raised people’s expectations without meeting them and was opposed by both the conservative clergy and the left.           
Revolutions are not one-day events; they begin with the overthrow of the old regime and end with the consolidation of the new.  The Russian Revolution began in 1917 and came to an end in the 1920s with the Soviet victory in the civil war.  In the case of this study the Iranian Revolution started in January 1979 when the Shah fled and ended in the early 1980s by which time the Islamic Republic had eradicated internal opposition.   
After a revolution there is a period of political horse-trading with different groups vying for power.  After the Shah fled the country in January 1979 Iran saw the rise of radical Islamist, and leftist movements. while moderates such as Bazargan and Banisadr (respectively Iran’s new president and prime-minister) vied for high position. The occupation of the US Embassy by Islamic students was an attempt by Islamists to upstage the left, presenting themselves as better anti-imperialists. By 1982 the the Islamists, led by Ayatollah Khomeini, were firmly in control. Most of the left, including Tudeh, supported the Islamists until they were supressed.  The only exceptions were the Peoples’ Fedayeen, an armed resistance group with links to the anti-revisionist left – and the People’s Mujahidin which eventually turned to the Americans for support.
The author covers the period since the revolution in some detail; however this should arguably be the subject of another book. Katouzian views Iranian society in terms of state vs society conflict with little reference to class. This puts him at odds with Marxists who would see the Shah as a tool of the pro-imperialist, comprador Iranian elite with the Islamists acting on behalf of the national bourgeoisie, the wealthy ‘bazari’ traders.  Although containing some useful information the book is most noted for what it leaves out.

 

Goodbye and good riddance

If Starmer had hoped to upstage Andy Burnham by resigning on the day Parliament re-opened he was clearly disappointed by the indifference on the street to his long-overdue departure from the political arena. No-one will miss him least of all the media gurus whose only focus was to fire speculation on who will take his seat at the by-election to choose his successor in the London Holborn & St Pancras constituency. 
In years gone by retiring prime ministers could look forward to becoming an elder statesman on the Commons back-benches or the House of Lords ready to give advice to the government of the day as and when needed. A house in town and a place in the country, a few servants (usually referred to as “staff” these days), a social life that revolved around chosen clubs and charities  and time to write those unread memoirs that stack the biography shelves of our major libraries –that was their reward for a life-time of service to the ruling class in those days.
Some, like Theresa May and David Cameron, will still settle for a peerage and the trimmings that go with it. But nowadays a second life in the House of Lords is not anywhere near enough for dumped politicians who lust after the vulgar and ostentatious life of the billionaires and oligarchs they once served. People like Tony Blair – the former premier who sees no shame in acting as a well-paid run-around for Trump and Netanyahu. Others, who are not so lucky, have to get by on what they can make on the American speaking-tour circuit while the likes of Boris Johnson and Liz Truss keep up appearances by filling the columns of the mainstream papers of the English-speaking world with their vacuous thoughts on the issues of the  day.
Sir Keir Starmer is more ambitious, He says he wants  to focus on new work on “international affairs”. Some say he thinks he’s in the running to be the new secretary-general of NATO – a post that is traditionally held by a European politician. Well we’ll see what happens. 
In the meantime the battle to take his seat in the House of Commons has begun. Zack Polanski has already thrown his hat into the ring. The Green leader, one of the three members of his bloc on the Greater London Assembly, has long wanted a parliamentary seat in the capital. He’s got the backing of Andrew Feinstein, the independent Corbynista who came a distant second to Labour in the constituency at the last general election. The Greens came third but Starmer held the seat with a comfortable majority at the 2024 poll. Whether Polanski can overturn Labour’s majority this time round remains to be seen. A lot depends on who Labour chooses to defend it.