First Published: Class Struggle, Vol 2, No. 1, August 1977
Transcription, Editing and Markup: Sam Richards and Paul Saba
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IN JULY, after thorough preparation, a militant congress was held at which members of the Communist Federation of Britain (Marxist-Leninist) and the Communist Unity Association (Marxist-Leninist) met to dissolve their organisations and to found the Revolutionary Communist League of Britain. The decision was taken with great enthusiasm and militant solidarity.
This founding congress of the RCLB is a step forward for the whole revolutionary Communist movement. It shows that unity can be won, if the desire for unity is really there, and if the struggle for unity is carried out correctly. It is an important step on the road to uniting all genuine revolutionary Communists.
Representatives from another Marxist-Leninist organisation attended the congress as observers.
After a lively discussion the congress unanimously adopted a Manifesto for the Revolutionary Communist League of Britain.
This important document lays down fundamental communist principles to guide our work, analyses the world situation and the struggle in Britain. It identifies who are the friends and who are the enemies of the working class
The Manifesto states clearly that the two superpowers, Soviet social imperialism and United States imperialism, are the main enemy of the peoples of the world. Within Britain, it states that the British monopoly capitalist class is the main enemy of the working class.
The Manifesto of the RCLB points out: that since the degeneration of the ’Communist’ Party of Great Britain into a thoroughly reformist and opportunist organisation, the central task is to Build the vanguard Party of the working class, the revolutionary Communist Party.
The Manifesto is the most comprehensive document on the class struggle produced so far by the revolutionary Communist movement in Britain, and is an important step in the struggle for a party programme. It will serve as a strong guide to the practical work of the RCLB; and within the revolutionary Communist movement it will be a great help in drawing out the differences between organisations. This will allow a clear struggle to take place over the major differences, and so aid the struggle for unity.
The congress also unanimously adopted a constitution. The RCLB will be a fully democratic centralist organisation, combining centralised leadership, with lively working class democracy.
A Central Committee was elected by the whole congress as the leading body of the RCLB between congresses. Immediately after the congress the Central Committee met to elect a Standing Committee to act as the leading core of the Central Committee.
The congress adopted ’Class Struggle’ as the political paper of the RCLB, and ’Revolution’ as its theoretical journal.
Warm greetings were sent to the Communist Party of China and the Party of Labour of Albania.
The congress ended with the singing of the Internationale.