Five years ago today comrade Phil
Mitchinson passed away tragically at the age of 38. Phil was an
outstanding Marxist and a leader of the International Marxist Tendency.
He also edited the Socialist Appeal for a period.
The Walton by-election, in Liverpool,
took place in July 1991, twenty years ago. It arose after the sudden
death of Eric Heffer, the left-wing Labour MP for Walton. At the time it
created quite a political stir. It was also a key factor in the demise
of the Militant, which had boasted it could win the seat, but
failed miserably.
Seventy years since the assassination of Leon
Trotsky bourgeois writers and historians are attempting to bury the man
again. They are constantly demonizing him and his ideas. That is because
they understand that his ideas are not dead, but very alive and have
never been so relevant as they are today, in this period of crisis of
capitalism.
On August 21, 1940 the great
revolutionary fighter, theoretician, and martyr, Leon Trotsky, died of
the wounds inflicted in a brutal attack by a Stalinist agent. To mark
the 70th anniversary of his assassination we want to bring to
the attention of our readers some of the material we published on the
www.marxist.com about the life, work and ideas of Trotsky.
Today 6th August is the 20th anniversary of the death of Marxist MP and class fighter Pat Wall. In his memory we publish a tribute to him by Rob Sewell.
Today, July 20th, is the fourth anniversary of the death of Ted Grant, Marxist, Revolutionary, defender of the banner of Trotskyism. In the next few days we will be publishing the first volume of the collected writings of Ted Grant cover the period from 1938 to 1942.
On Saturday, March 27, Kenny McGuigan
died after six years of fighting Motor Neurone Disease. Kenny was a
class fighter, a Marxist and a leading Scottish supporter of Socialist Appeal. We send our deepest condolences to
Kate, Paula, Laura, Cara, and all the family, and will not forget our
comrade as we continue the struggle he dedicated so much time and
energy to.
It is with great sadness that we have to report the death of comrade
Kenny McGuigan following a long struggle against an increasingly
debilitating illness. We will post a full tribute to him shortly but in
the meantime we join with many others in expressing our condolences to
his family and friends at this dificult time. He was a great and much
loved comrade, Marxist and class fighter who truly will be missed.
The history of the Russian Revolution is intimately associated with the names of Lenin and Trotsky, its two great leaders. They attracted all the praise and they bore all the hatred. The reason for this is not difficult to understand. The October Russian Revolution, led by the Bolshevik Party, was the greatest event in history. For the first time, the workers and peasant took power into their hands, swept aside the landlords and capitalists, and proceeded to organise a democratic workers’ Soviet Republic.
The authority of the new Soviet government rested upon a congress of soviets (workers’ committees) elected from factories and barracks.
Comrade Bill Landles is 85 on October 26th. By
coincidence, in the old Russian calendar that is also
the date of Trotsky’s 130th birthday and the
anniversary of the Russian revolution. This is highly
appropriate because Bill has devoted the whole of his
thinking life to the cause of the October Revolution
and the ideas of Lenin and Trotsky.HAPPY BIRTHDAY BILL!
Today marks the 69th anniversary of the assassination of Leon Trotsky. Murdered by the cowardly hands of Stalin’s henchman, Trotsky’s ideas remain as relevant today as ever. We mark this anniversary by reproducing a statement issued by Estevan Volkov, Trotsky’s grandson, ten years ago. In doing so we remember the final words from Trotsky’s testament: "Life is beautiful. Let the future generations cleanse it of all evil, oppression and violence and enjoy it to the full."
Marx has been declared dead so many
times, and yet he keeps coming back again and again, the reason being
that his ideas, his theories, are the only ones that can explain the
present crisis of capitalism. Here a Nigerian Marxist gives his views
on the relevance of Marx’s ideas today.