Issued: December 1, 1985.
Transcription, Editing and Markup: Sam Richards and Paul Saba
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The Scottish Communist Republican Party and the Communist Organisation of England (COS – which was recently officially formed by the communist militants active in the anti-imperialist group Mosquito Press) have united to form the Communist Organisation of Scotland and England (COSE).
The unity between the SCRP and the COS rests on a solid foundation. The comrades in the two organisations have worked closely together for over two years, particularly in pro-Republican Irish solidarity work, but increasingly in other areas of revolutionary work as well.
During this period all comrades have come to deepen their mutual comradeship and trust and have constantly enhanced their unity on all key political and ideological questions facing communists in the British state.
However, in order to ensure that our unity is strong and permanent, and particularly in view of the complex national questions in the British state, the united organisation (COSE) will assume aspects of federalism within the context of developing full organisational unity over a period of some two years. A leading body has been constituted comprised of an equal number of comrades from both organisations. The united organisation has responsibility for all international questions including questions relating to the British state as a whole. The constituent organisations will retain the right to apply the general line of the united organisation to their particular conditions. Each organisation retains the right to decide its policies on specifically Scottish or English questions on the basis of complete independence. In the same context we hope to further develop our comradely ties with communists in Wales.
The particular form that the united organisation has assumed is a transitional one and our goal is to achieve full democratic centralist unity. But this goal can only be properly and permanently attained over a period of time. This is particularly the case in view of the longstanding chauvinism that has infested the communist movement in the British state, which we are determined to uproot and destroy once and for all.
Communist Organisation of Scotland and England (COSE) has as its main aim the building of a genuine communist party that can lead the revolution to finally destroy British Imperialism on Its home territory and build socialism, guaranteeing the exercise of full national rights by all nations and national minorities in the British state.
The COSE welcomes to its ranks all communists – both from existing opportunist-led organisations and communists of the new generation – who agree with its general line and policies and are prepared to work under its discipline.
The COSE is guided in all its activities by Marxism-Leninism, the scientific outlook of the working class of all countries. We oppose all attempts to destroy the revolutionary essence of Marxism-Leninism, the most dangerous of such attempts in our conditions being those of Eurocommunism and Trotskyism. We regard the struggle to defend the revolutionary essence of Marxism-Leninism as an utmost priority.
At the same time we recognise that Marxism-Leninism has to be creatively applied to the concrete conditions of the revolution in each country. Furthermore it is above all in this process that numerous communists have defended and indeed developed Marxism-Leninism. Marxism-Leninism is not a timeless dogma but a science and the weapon which the proletariat and its allies use to understand and transform the world. It must be constantly applied and developed, but only on the basis of defending its revolutionary essence. For this reason the COSE holds in high esteem the life and work of James Connolly and John Maclean. We also uphold Comrade Kim II Sung as a communist leader of the present era who, particularly through his creation and development of the Juche Idea, has played a most outstanding role in defending, applying and further advancing Marxism-Leninism.
The COSE upholds Lenin’s teachings on the state and revolution. Whilst we will employ all legal – including parliamentary – tactics we recognise that in the final analysis British imperialism can only be defeated by means of a mass revolutionary struggle. We reject the Communist Party of Great Britain’s ’programme’, “The British Road To Socialism” – in all its editions – as a document peddling dangerous illusions on the nature of the state. Such illusions have culminated in today’s out-and-out Eurocommunist treachery.
The COSE works to build a working class communist party, both in ideology and composition. We direct our primary attention to carrying out Engels’ advice to work particularly amongst the most oppressed sections of the working class.
The COSE sees the British state as a prison house of oppressed nations and nationalities. We support all struggles of the nationally oppressed which, In our concrete conditions, are primarily working class struggles, but are also waged to a certain extent by representatives of other classes and strata. These struggles include those of the people of Scotland and Wales and of the Asian, Afro-Caribbean and Irish communities. Many of these struggles – combining class and national contradictions – have a particular revolutionary edge to them and are of great importance to the future development of the struggle for socialism. As an integral part of our support for the struggles of the nationally oppressed we support their independent organisations and defend the right of all nationalities to organise as they see fit, including their right to build their own independent communist organisations. At the same time we hope that, over time, a united multinational communist party will be built.
The COSE upholds proletarian internationalism and aims to thoroughly embody it. The working class is above all an international class.
The COSE’s foremost internationalist tasks are to support the revolutionary struggle of the Irish people and to support and defend the socialist countries.
The COSE takes principled solidarity with the revolutionary Irish struggle as its absolute priority. We unconditionally support the revolutionary democratic struggle in Ireland against British imperialism. We resolutely and actively support, not only in words but also in deeds, the Irish Republican Movement, the Irish people’s revolutionary democratic vanguard, and will defend it by every possible means. The COSE works to build the Pro-Republican Irish Solidarity Movement and its newspaper IRELAND’S WAR.
The socialist countries – and their “strategic allies” the states of socialist orientation – are liberated areas of mankind and base areas of world revolution. The principal struggle on the global stage is that between world socialism and world imperialism, in which the struggle to defend world peace plays a crucial role. The COSE defends and supports unconditionally all the socialist countries and states of socialist orientation. We firmly condemn all attacks by reactionary British ’leftists’ on them, or their attempts to play one socialist country off against another. To the extent of our abilities the COSE will exert its efforts for unity of the socialist countries and all revolutionary and anti-imperialist forces.
The COSE unconditionally supports the revolutionary democratic struggle of those nations oppressed by British imperialism, and resolutely and actively supports, not only in words but also in deeds, every liberation movement in these nations.
The COSE supports the revolutionary and anti-imperialist struggles and we support the liberation movements and other political forces throughout the world in so far as they exhibit a tendency to weaken and overthrow imperialism. We will work to build unity with and unity between all Communist Parties and organisations, all national liberation movements and all forces active in the anti-imperialist struggle on the basis of independence, equality, mutual respect, non-interference in internal affairs and proletarian internationalism.
The COSE rejects the long-standing chauvinism that has infested the communist movement in the British state. We will not engage in chauvinist criticisms of, or attacks on, the national liberation movements and international anti-imperial1st forces, for such chauvinism only serves to alienate and divide from each other the workers and oppressed peoples of the world.
The COSE is aware of the enormous scope of the tasks that confront it and of its own limited resources. But if we are to escape from the horrors of exploitation and oppression, war, poverty, unemployment and racism there is no alternative. Moreover, the forces who can be won to an organised revolutionary movement are rapidly developing. Thousands of brave class-conscious fighters have emerged, and are emerging, from the year-long miners’ strike, the renewed uprisings of youth led by Black youth, and from other fronts of the struggle. Within the ’communist movement’ this trend finds its expression in the ever more rapid disintegration of the ’CPGB’ as honest militants become increasingly unable to stomach the reactionary line of that party.
To the proletarian militants in the mining communities, to the fighting youth in the cities, to the genuine communists in revolt against opportunist leaders, to all oppressed people in struggle, we say:
Rally To the COSE and build a fighting communist party to bury British imperialism!
Communist Organisation of Scotland and England (COSE) December 1st. 1985.
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The COE is a constituent part of the COSE with full independence on all purely English Issues. COE members and supporters are active in IRELAND’S WAR Support Group, the Korea Friendship Committee, and other anti-Imperialist organisations and activities. The COE publishes various anti-imperialist literature, including books, pamphlets and news releases on Ireland, Black Power, Korea and other issues. Tor further information, and a full list of publications, write to: COE, c/o MOSQUITO PRESS, 27A OLD GLOUCESTER STREET, LONDON WC1N 3XX, ENGLAND.
The SCRP is a constituent organisation of the Communist Organisation of Scotland and England. The SCRP stands for a Scottish Socialist Republic and for the unity of the workers and oppressed peoples of the world. For more information write to: FOOTPRINT (SCRP), PO BOX 219, GLASGOW G31 4DZ, SCOTLAND.