Every cloud…

...has a silver lining. And no more so than in the new parliament. We’ve seen an election that has given Starmer & Co a steam-roller majority in the House of Commons. We’ve also seen the election of independent MPs including Jeremy Corbyn, the former Labour leader hounded out by Starmer and the Blairite gang, and a bigger block of Liberal Democrats and Greens who can be counted on for support on Palestine and social reform issues.
Corbyn, who defeated a Starmer stooge to keep the Islington seat he’s held for over forty years, has already formed a bloc with the four independent MPs who stood on pro-Palestinian platforms. Now he’s reaching out to the seven Labour MPs who voted to alleviate child poverty in Parliament this week. Those seven, all former Corbynistas, have now been suspended by Labour for six months.
 Corbyn told LBC “I’m very happy that the seven of them voted against the continuation of the two-child benefit cap. And obviously I will be working with them, as I have been working with them for many years anyway”. He told the London radio station that “Even one MP can be an awful nuisance in Parliament, multiply that by 12 and you’ve got 12 awful nuisances in Parliament who will continually be reminding the Government of its responsibilities to all citizens in our society”.
This is certainly needed these days. Supporting a Gaza cease-fire and the restoration of the legitimate rights of the Palestinian Arabs is a must. Taking up the minimum demands of the unions for higher pay, social justice and the restoration of the welfare state go without saying. Being a focus of resistance in parliament and on the street now becomes attainable. Whether the rebel Labour MPs take up Corbyn’s offer remains to be seen but the fight-back has already begun.

Struggling for peace

Imperialism fans the flames of war in Ukraine and the Middle East, blocks the return of Taiwan to its Chinese homeland and prolongs the unhappy partition of many countries including Cyprus, Ireland, Kashmir and Korea.
Imperialist leaders like to talk about “universal human rights” and “rules based order” – but only when it suits them. They talk plenty about Ukraine to justify their proxy war that has shattered the former Soviet republic. But they say nothing when it comes to the Palestinians.
Last week, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague said, "Israel’s continued presence in the occupied Palestinian territory is unlawful. Israel, the ICJ said, “is under an obligation” to end it “as rapidly as possible.”  It also found Israel to be guilty of violating the international prohibition on racial segregation and apartheid. Palestinian Arabs have long known this to be true, but it nevertheless must mark a turning point in the Palestinian struggle for liberation. 
ICJ decisions are supposed to be binding on all members of the United Nations but they are routinely ignored by Israel. Now things are changing.
Imperialism believed it could call all the shots in the Middle East. They thought that all resistance could be crushed by brute force with the support of their Israeli and Arab lackeys. But imperialist violence always leads to an equally violent resistance. Imperialism’s refusal to recognise this has led to the spiral of violence and terror in the region that began in 1948 as a regional war, to a conflict that now spans the whole world.
The New Communist Party calls for the immediate and unconditional end to the Israeli genocide in the Gaza Strip, the Israeli withdrawal from all occupied Palestinian and other Arab territories and a comprehensive peace treaty to end the conflict in the Middle East based on past United Nations resolutions. These resolutions provide the basis for a just and lasting peace in the Middle East.

NATO: Notorious, Aggressive and Threatening

by John Maryon

The American-led North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, NATO, was founded in April 1949.  As an imperialist military alliance it was seen as a clear threat to peace in Europe by the Soviet Union.  In response when West Germany joined a few years later the Warsaw Pact was established, to counter the new threat in May 1955.  Following the collapse of the Soviet Union the Warsaw Pact was dissolved in February 1991. NATO however continued to exist.        
And without the Warsaw Pact to hold it to account NATO soon revealed its true purpose.  In spite of assurances given to the new neo-liberal regime in Moscow it acted quickly with armed aggression against Yugoslavia followed by Afghanistan and Libya.  The alliance was expanded up to Russia's border. Yugoslavia was destroyed by the now familiar tactic of fermenting conflict as an excuse to send in the bombers. The Chinese embassy in Belgrade was deliberately attacked.  NATO attempted to take over Georgia but by this time Russia had woken up and the plot failed. Today the new NATO crime is Project Ukraine. 
NATO’s proxy war in Ukraine, which had been planned in the 1990s and commenced in February 2014, is its latest act of aggression.  Power was seized in a coup by the pro-Western bourgeoisie allied with neo-fascists and criminal elements. Pyotr Simonenko of the Communist Party of Ukraine said "it was through these forces that the USA unleashed a fratricidal civil war against the citizens of Donbas who are upholding their constitutional rights and freedoms".  Opposition parties are banned, their leaders imprisoned and trade unionists have been murdered. 
Project Ukraine has four principal objectives.  Firstly to weaken and destabilise Russia with the aim of regime change.  Secondly to expand NATO up to Russia's border and gain full military control of the Black Sea. Thirdly to steal the minerals and rich fertile soil areas that were once the bread basket of the USSR. Fourthly to dominate the region by expanding the malignant control of the European Union.  Project Ukraine is failing as Russia continues to win the war of attrition. The tragic conflict, like all of NATO S other adventures, has destroyed a country and led to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people. 
NATO has just held its 75th Anniversary summit in Washington.  Sustained by hate, fear, greed and hysteria the aggressive organisation fans confrontation and sabotages peace.  Hungarian Prime Minister, Viktor Orban, one of its few Western critics, has said that NATO should focus on peace rather than engage in wars.  Russian commentators have noted that the US and its allies are mobilising maximum resources to preserve their collapsing hegemony.  NATO preaches security, freedom and human rights while causing death and destruction on a large scale. 
The 75th NATO conference was itself a public relations debacle.  President Biden introduced President Zelensky as President Putin.  The Turkish President, Recep Erdogan, made strong criticism of Biden's role in the Gaza conflict and blasted US complicity in war crimes in regard  to the murder of civilians and the targeting of hospitals and Aid centres with US supplied weapons. He called for sanctions against Israel and an immediate halt to the genocide taking place. As expected no peace proposals were adopted at the summit.  The gathering of almost all clowns, lame ducks, failed politicians and neo-con war mongers enabled Europe's most boring and incompetent so-called leaders to bond and agree to promote and finance more wars. 
China, unlike NATO, has put forward it's own peace proposals to end the war in Ukraine.  The 2021 Brussels NATO Summit communique demonstrated its hostility towards the People's Republic by alleging systematic challenges to the “Rules (US Rules) Based International Order”. The policy was taken a step further at the Washington Summit with claims that Beijing is helping Russia with its special military operation in Ukraine. The Chinese foreign ministry has said in response that NATO was smearing China with fabricated disinformation. Under the Belt and Road Initiative China has invested billions of yuan in European infrastructure upgrades. US-led NATO is mulling the seizing of these investments.  If they were foolish enough to take this option no-one would be prepared to invest in Europe and a number of Middle-Eastern countries may then withdraw all their money. 
While ignoring the critical state of their own economies the NATO allies of the US continue to impose sanctions against China and Russia which are backfiring badly.  They have also committed to spending 2.5 per cent of their GDP on the military. Arms suppliers must be rubbing their hands with glee, particularly as no peace initiatives were forthcoming at the meeting.  Germany, the industrial and economic powerhouse of  Western Europe, is on a self imposed road to de-industrialisation and economic collapse by following US diktat. A situation made worse by the terrorist attack on the Nord Stream pipelines which could not have taken place without the knowledge and convenience of NATO. This in my book makes NATO a terrorist organisation which Britain should leave at once. 
New threats against China, if carried out, would turn a crisis into a disaster for much of the European Union.  Sinister moves to expand NATO to the Pacific region have led China and Russia to take steps to deepen their strategic partnership. Claims by the Western media that China is a security threat have no basis in reality.  China, unlike the USA, does not have 800 military bases round the world or killed millions of people in endless wars. China seeks peace and international cooperation. 
The world is changing rapidly. American hegemony is being challenged and new emerging economies are increasingly using non-dollar currency payment exchange.  NATO states remain in denial and are still stuck in a colonial mindset. They are no longer in a position to dominate as in the past.  NATO is, however, still a serious threat to world peace as it's actions continue to create tension and conflict with a constant risk of another world war.  In 2020 Britain contributed £1,000 per person to NATO coffers to promote war. That money is urgently needed to save essential public services and repair a crumbling infrastructure.  Say no to NATO now for a peaceful and prosperous new world for us all to enjoy. 

50 years since the coup d’etat and Turkish invasion

 

Solidarity Statement with the people of Cyprus

It is with deep sorrow and concern that we mark this year the 50th devastating anniversary of the illegal invasion and ongoing occupation of 37% of the territory of the Republic of Cyprus by Turkey, following the treasonous coup d’etat of 15 July 1974 planned by CIA, NATO and the Greek junta. We recall that in result of foreign interventions and imperialist aggression, Cyprus and its people -Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots- have become hostage in a relentlessly dangerous status quo.
The status quo is nor static nor can it represent a solution; on the contrary, the status quo and the continuing stalemate serve Turkey’s long-term hegemonic objectives against Cyprus and the permanent division of Cyprus and its people. The constant fabrication of new divisionist fait accompli in the occupied territory and the hegemonial subordination and control over the Turkish Cypriots by Turkey, hinder the prospects of a comprehensive, just and viable solution. Turkey’s constant challenge of the sovereign rights of the Republic of Cyprus in its Exclusive Economic Zone contrary to the Law of the Sea, the unilateral partial opening of the fenced off are of Varosha, in violation of UN Security Council resolutions 550 and 789, along with the provocations near Pyla and Agios Dometios and the intensifying militarisation of the occupied areas by the further transfer of military equipment including combat drones, are causes of extreme concern for the present and the future of Cyprus.
The resumption of a substantive dialogue, from where it was left in July 2017, is a matter of urgency, in order to achieve a comprehensive solution on the agreed basis of a bizonal bicommunal federation with political equality, as this is prescribed by the relevant UN resolutions, with the withdrawal of all the Turkish occupation troops and termination of the Treaty of Guarantee. This constitutes the sole viable option for Cyprus to be freed of the illegal occupation by Turkey and for the country and its people to reunify.
The transformation of the political system into a federal one, is the only way to reunite Cyprus; we will never accept any ‘solution’ that may jeopardize the true independence of Cyprus, bearing on its single sovereignty, single international legal personality and single citizenship, and whereby no third parties will be able to intervene and the human rights and freedoms of all Cypriots will be restored in accordance with international law and the principles upon which the EU is founded.
The current official position of Turkey and Mr. Tatar for a two-states solution and the persistent demand for a recognition of ‘sovereign equality’ and an equal international status as prerequisites for the resumption of the negotiations are utterly unacceptable. They encroach upon the agreed basis of the solution, all the relevant UNSC Resolutions and violate core international law principles which set the parameters for the comprehensive solution of the Cyprus problem. The continuous intransigence of Turkey in this regard, obstructs the resumption of meaningful negotiations. Whereas we firmly believe, that the agreed framework constitutes the only realistic point of convergence for a solution to the Cyprus problem, as it is based on the respect for international law and can serve the well-intentioned interests, sensitivities and just demands of the Cypriot people as a whole.
In the current international conditions of exacerbated militarisation of international relations, the sidelining of international law and the UN Charter, the peaceful solution of the Cyprus problem becomes even more urgent. The international community is in need of positive conflict resolution paradigms and tangible results in building a peaceful, stable and secure world within which humanity can truly develop and progress.
The comprehensive solution of the Cyprus problem is a necessary prerequisite for the demilitarisation of the island and for common class struggles a future.

Those signing the present Statement:

Call on the international community to support the resumption of substantive negotiations for the comprehensive solution of the Cyprus problem as soon as possible and demand an end of the Turkish illegal actions and occupation
Express their solidarity with and support to the struggle of the Cypriot people for the liberation and reunification of its country.

Undersigning Parties 

• Austria - Communist Party of Austria
• Brazil -   Communist Party of Brazil
• Britain - New Communist Party of Britain
• Cyprus - AKEL
• Czech Republic - Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia
• France - French Communist Party
• Germany - German Communist Party
• Iran - Tudeh Party of Iran
• Italy - Communist Refoundation Party
• Italy - Italian Communist Party
• Luxembourg - Communist Party of Luxembourg
• Portugal - Portuguese Communist Party
• Spain - Communists of Catalonia
• Spain - Communist Party of the Peoples of Spain
• Spain - Galizan People's Union (UPG)
• Sri-Lanka - JVP - People's Liberation front

Enter Keir Starmer

Workers get little or nothing out of bourgeois elections. Whoever wins the ruling class will still be there living off the backs of working people in Britain and throughout the world.
The Labour Party has been dominated by its right-wing throughout its history – a right-wing that never seriously challenged imperialism when the British empire spanned the globe and to this day always seeks to serve what they believe to be the dominant wing of the ruling class.
But come election-time we do get the chance to keep the most reactionary of the mainstream parties out of office and to elect the only party that is historically and organisationally linked to the trade union movement – Labour. We also get the chance to raise popular demands that go far beyond the bourgeois agenda or the class-collaborationist policies of Sir Keir Starmer and his cronies.
This week Palestine solidarity candidates took four seats off of Labour and came close to winning a couple more. Jeremy Corbyn, the former Labour leader hounded out because he supports the legitimate demands of the Palestinian Arabs, has held his seat as an independent. These independents can now realistically strive to build a Palestinian support lobby in Parliament with the support from some of the Greens, the Liberal-Democrats and the left social-democrats on Starmer’s back-benches. But they won’t be able to change Labour itself.
Only the organised working class through its affiliated unions that provide the massive amounts of cash that keep Labour going can do that job. And that will only happen if there’s mass rank-and-file pressure on the leadership for change.
Capitalism can never solve the problems of working people nor is it intended to. It’s a system designed to ensure that the big bourgeoisie and those that serve them live the lives of Roman emperors through exploitation. All the wealth of the capitalist world is produced by workers in factories and peasants in the fields. All they get in return is a tiny fraction of the wealth they produce.
All that “democracy” means to the bourgeoisie is manipulating the largest number of votes by the smallest number of people. Marking a cross in a ballot box every four of five years is a meaningless ritual unless it’s matched by a rising level of militancy and struggle. The Palestine solidarity campaign has reached out to millions over the past nine months through mass actions on the streets in London and up and down the country. The unions must do the same to demand higher wages, better pensions, decent and affordable housing and a free health service that can so easily be funded by taxing the rich, restoring the public sector and scrapping the Trident nuclear arms system.
The next step is real democracy – people’s democracy; democracy for the masses that will pave the way for socialism and the end of poverty, classes and exploitation. The struggle began in the 19th century and continues to this day.
We know that social democracy, of whatever trend, can never lead to socialism. But the struggles of the future can only come from a labour movement confident to lead the fight for revolutionary change. We shall not be diverted from that struggle.

Britain joins the war in Ukraine

by K Hill

While the US has brought about regime change in Ukraine with the Maidan coup in 2014, installing a thinly disguised neo-Nazi government of Banderites and corrupt politicians to loot its resources, sell its land and saddle it with massive debts thanks to dodgy IMF loans, the UK has been heavily involved in the training of their military – now the second largest European army (after Turkey) in NATO.
The UK involvement has involved everything from bringing Ukrainian commanders for "special training" in the UK, Nazi tattoos on show much to the embarrassment of the British media, to the existence of special advisors, in reality SAS and SBS units, to supervise "on the ground" the attacks on Snake Island and Kerch Bridge.
This is the real reason our British press has been so obsessed with these two "targets" over the past two years, despite their lack of strategic importance, because they are great PR and distract the British public from the grim reality of millions of dead and wounded Ukrainians over the past years.
This is a war Ukraine can't win, never could win, but a war that the UK along with the US said would be worth it because if the Ukrainians "weakened Russia" they would be rewarded with European Union and NATO membership – despite the fact that they didn't qualify, and never would. Now the EU and NATO are so weak, they may well become members simply because both are on their last legs, completely ruined by this unwinnable war along with the rest of Europe and the UK.
When offered more than reasonable terms of peace by Russia, the US sent Boris Johnson to persuade Zelensky to continue the war, while the US funded billions of dollars of "loans" Ukraine can never repay to stay in the war, knowing they would be defeated, but determined they should keep on fighting until Biden is re-elected.
The tragedy is that Ukraine could never win "the war" and the Americans knew that. Russia has more and better weapons than NATO, can produce more and better weapons than NATO can in the future, even if Europe and the UK move to a "war economy". Russia now has a bigger, better trained armed forces than NATO, although it didn't before the Americans provoked this war in 2014. In fact Russia was reducing its armed forces in order to focus more on rebuilding its economy after US sanctions and building up international relationships with other victims of American imperialism.
Sanctions have now bankrupted the West, and BRICS will make US hegemony irrelevant, but the UK's real humiliation has come with Sunak's admission that the UK won't "directly fight Russia", because it exposes the fact that we already have been secretly fighting Russia for a decade, in an unwinnable war that has exposed our complete inability to do anything but start what we cannot finish.

Last lap of the election…

It looks like curtains for Sunak on 4th July. Despite the fact that there is little enthusiasm for Keith Starmer on the street nothing the Conservatives say can shift Labour’s 20 point lead in the opinion polls. Amongst the Tory grandees the blame game has already begun with Remainers looking to the Liberal-Democrats while the die-hard racists and what’s left of their Brexit faction turn to Nigel Farage’s Reform platform. In Islington over a thousand volunteers are helping Jeremy Corbyn in his fight against the Labour machine to keep his seat in parliament and Nigel Farage managed to break the bourgeois consensus on Ukraine last week. 
To the eternal shame of the fake left Labour MPs who pose as peace campaigners while supporting NATO’s proxy war in Ukraine Farage’s repeated calls for a peace settlement
 take Russia’s legitimate demands into consideration. To the horror of Sunak and Starmer, who closed ranks to denounce Farage as an apologist for Vladimir Putin, Farage’s comments were favourably received on the street even in die-hard Tory and Labour areas. This is not surprising. Though tatty yellow and blue Ukrainian flags still fly over some Government buildings no-one on the street really cares about Zelensky these days. 

Assange: the end of a nightmare

 Seven years holed up in the Ecuadorian embassy in London followed by five years cooped up in a dungeon in Belmarsh. Julian Assange paid a very high price for defending journalistic freedom. Now he walks free following a plea-bargain deal with the American courts that led to his release this week. We all wish him well as he starts to rebuild his life in Australia.
The WikiLeaks founder will now fight for a pardon that Donald Trump says he will seriously consider if he returns to the White House while Assange supporters vow to continue to campaign to change the law in the United States to prevent further prosecutions against journalists.
We’ve learned many lessons from the Assange campaign whose ultimate victory was undoubtedly due to Assange’s refusal to grovel to imperialist demands and his campaign’s determination to fight for his freedom across the globe. That campaign swayed the Australian Labor government into pressing for his release. It clearly also influenced the Biden administration that is well aware that it needs to woo the liberal constituency in the United States with a show of clemency if it hopes to beat off the challenge from the Trump camp at the presidential elections in November.
The lesson learnt is to have no faith in British “justice” or the courts and constitutions of the other members of the “free world” in Europe. They will all do the bidding of their masters in Washington when the chips are down. The American whistle-blower Edward Snowden made a wiser choice when he fled to Russia in 2013...