New Worker Banner

The Weekly paper of the New Communist Party of Britain

Lead story

No unity with the Tories!

by New Worker correspondent

BORIS JOHNSON remains in intensive care after being struck down by COVID-19 last week. But aides denied Russian media claims that Johnson had developed pneumonia and had been put on a ventilator, saying his condition was “stable” after receiving oxygen treatment at St Thomas’ hospital in central London.

Read the full story here >> No unity with the Tories!

British communists join international call to fight virus

by New Worker correspondent

THE New Communist Party of Britain joined the international call for co-operation in the battle against the COVID-19 pandemic, which has taken the lives of more than 50,000 people around the world.

Read the full story here >> British communists join international call to fight virus

Outdoor Relief for Capitalism

by New Worker correspondent

IN THESE TIMES of crisis it is good to see that at least one group are doing well. Those who had the wisdom to invest their surplus wealth in bus and rail group FirstGroup can look forward to a healthy dividend despite them not carrying many passengers at present.

Read the full story here >> Outdoor Relief for Capitalism

Editorial

One door opens…

NONE OF US should be surprised at Sir Keir Starmer’s victory in the Labour Party leadership contest. The darling of the Blairites was backed to the hilt by the right-wing Labour factions that operate within the party and the trade union movement. But his convincing first-round victory over the supposed heir to the Corbyn mantle showed that his support went far beyond that of the Labour’s traditional right-wing constituency.

It’s also true that the number of abstentions outweighed those that actually voted for the ambitious lawyer turned politician who now leads the Labour Party. But the fact that Starmer bagged 275,780 votes in the poll – more than that of the two other hopefuls combined – shows that tens of thousands of Labour members who had previously backed Jeremy Corbyn had been swayed to vote for the “unity” candidate this time round.

Some are now, once again, calling for the establishment of a new socialist party to challenge Labour. None of them can explain why all previous attempts to do so have failed dismally. Others, ready to rebuild the left inside Labour, have not looked frankly at their own record over the last five years and are, therefore, doomed to repeat the same mistakes over and over again.

Although Corbyn’s campaigns sparked off a surge of support that has made the Labour Party one of the largest political parties in Europe, they failed to build a mass left social-democratic base within it. His core support in parliament went little beyond the old Bennite Socialist Campaign Group. The tens of thousands who rallied to Corbyn’s banner showed no interest in the Labour Representation Committee (LRC) that Corbyn led. Although there was some mass support for Momentum when it was founded, that rapidly evaporated when it became clear that it was just an ego-trip for a tiny clique that revolved around one of Corbyn’s useless advisers.

Read the full story here >> One door opens…