Last night, around one hundred Revolutionary Communist Party (RCP) activists gathered in east London for the launch of Fiona Lali’s election campaign in the Stratford and Bow constituency.
The excitement in the room was palpable. “This is exactly what is needed,” said one attendee from Mile End. “There’s such a vacuum in politics right now. Ordinary people feel disgusted by the Tories and Labour. We have a chance to put the RCP on the map!”
“We’ve only been a party for a few weeks,” said another member from Newham, “and already we’re all over TV and social media, have been attacked by Tory ministers, and now this. What a time to be a communist!”
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The discussion was opened by Rob Sewell from the RCP’s executive committee. “This is a working-class constituency where the horrors in Gaza are felt strongly. There’s a hatred of the warmongers in both parties. We can capture a slice of this mood.”
Rob pointed out that what we can offer is a class perspective – one that links the genocide in Gaza to the problems facing workers and youth here in Britain.
“There’s always billions to fund wars abroad. And yet the working class always gets the thin end of the wedge. The working class must always foot the bill. This is how more and more people feel.”
Following this, RCP national secretary Ben Gliniecki spoke on how the communists are going to wage this campaign.
Already, Fiona’s announcement that she is running has amassed over one million views on X alone. Since Sunday, over 300 people – including local residents and young people from across London (and beyond) – have offered to volunteer for the campaign, and thousands have been donated.
I’m standing in the General Election. We have a world to win, and war criminals to bring down! pic.twitter.com/hi7KxwMjRA
— Fiona Lali (@fiona_lali) May 26, 2024
“We won’t approach this election campaign like the Labour Party,” Ben explained. “We won’t be doorknocking just to collect votes. We will be talking to ordinary people about the issues that affect them, linking these to the question of capitalism and the need to get organised.”
We are going to carry communist ideas and demands into every corner of the community, with stalls outside of workplaces and schools, open meetings and street rallies, and an energetic social media campaign.
As Ben explained, we aren’t running in this election simply to win votes. And we have no illusions that one communist MP would be able to make a fundamental difference.
Above all, we are striving to raise communist ideas and perspectives to a wider audience than ever before, and to build the RCP.
“We can create entirely new branches out of this work – not just in east London, but across Britain. This campaign will draw a lot of attention. We have a chance to seriously raise the profile of our party.”
During the discussion, RCP members from across London began drawing up battle plans for what promises to be a military-style campaign, involving hundreds of members and supporters across the capital.
I was at the emergency demo for Rafah last night, along side some students involved in the encampments! The movement is growing, forward! pic.twitter.com/WIDipnyDMi
— Fiona Lali (@fiona_lali) May 29, 2024
To cap off the meeting, Fiona – who arrived fresh from outside Downing Street, where a protest against the bombing of Rafah was taking place the same evening – gave a barnstorming speech, outlining why she is running in this election.
“We’re here to channel all of this existing anger. It has to be connected to a bigger political force – one that can tackle every single problem that’s taking place.
“Whether it’s war crimes in Palestine, or austerity in this country, we want to tackle these problems at their root, which is the capitalist system underpinning them all.
“Capitalism is a system which puts profit above all human life. We stand for the complete opposite of that. We stand for organising things on the basis of need and not profit.
“Let’s take every penny that has been designated for Israel, and put it into the NHS.
“We have war criminals to bring down, and a world to win.”
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The work that we do in the next six weeks will propel communist ideas to broader layers than ever before. This campaign will lay the groundwork for a party of thousands. And this is just the beginning.
We appeal to all of our readers and supporters: Join the fight to kick out the Westminster warmongers!
Volunteer for the campaign. Donate towards our war chest. And join the Revolutionary Communist Party!
