The campaign for a fortnightly Socialist Appeal has received an excellent initial response. As you may be aware, due to the growing response this newspaper has had in the recent period, we have recognised that a monthly publication is no longer sufficient. The depth of the crisis demands a more regular Marxist analysis that closely follows the workers’ movement as it develops, putting forward a clear socialist programme.
The campaign for a fortnightly Socialist Appeal has received an excellent initial response. As you may be aware, due to the growing response this newspaper has had in the recent period, we have recognised that a monthly publication is no longer sufficient.
The depth of the crisis demands a more regular Marxist analysis that closely follows the workers’ movement as it develops, putting forward a clear socialist programme. The capitalist crisis is an international phenomenon, and this need for a more Marxist newspaper is being recognised in other countries too. In Pakistan the Marxists of “The Struggle” have already established themselves as a fortnightly. On 25th January the Greek Marxists launched throughout street kiosks in Greece their fortnightly “Epanastasi” (Revolution), happily coinciding with a media attack on the comrades by the right-wing press for their revolutionary socialist programme inside SYRIZA, the party of the Greek left preparing for power.
Likewise the Marxist tendency in Italy has embarked on a similar campaign for a fortnightly. Around the world the struggle for socialism is gaining momentum, to which these steps forward testify. In Britain this has given an enormous morale boost to Socialist Appeal and our own efforts to establish a Marxist fortnightly.
In January we received many reports about supporters making efforts to get the paper out there. In Edinburgh comrades intervened in a demonstration of the Spanish community against the Spanish state’s attempts to curb abortion rights. George in Leicester and Jo in Brighton have written to us about how they have gone out all by themselves in their local high streets, determined to build for the fortnightly. Groups of supporters have also reported they are organising sales for the Forward to the Fortnightly campaign in Newcastle, Durham, Manchester, Leeds, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, North Derbyshire, Worcester, Cambridge and Essex in January. In London we have reports of between 15 and 20 different sales taking place every week by supporters on high streets, at the tube stations and on the university campuses through the Marxist societies.
In Ashington, Northumberland, we received a letter from Socialist Appeal supporters who have established a regular street sale in the high street. This was something which had not been attempted since the days of the Militant in the late 80s. After a slow start, they came into contact with young workers interested in socialism. “We generated quite a buzz on the street with groups of people standing around discussing political ideas with us”, report the comrades. “It was on this day we came across two big lads called Steve and Nick. We stood for an hour discussing a range of ideas, with us explaining materialism, imperialism, economics, Marx’s labour theory of value etc and both were astounded to meet people of a “Like mind!” They also said that they were part of a group of friends who are all discussing politics.”
“Ashington, being a former mining town, suffers from generational unemployment and like many former industrial towns is drab, weary and run down in places. The main shopping street, a once thriving hustle and bustle of a place, is a dying precinct with many boarded up shop fronts and the usual proliferation of charity shops and mobile phone outlets. Many of the people using the street are the elderly and the disabled, but there is a smattering of working class youth. After the sale we all retire there for a cup of tea and a political discussion and have become quite a feature for the cafe owner. Our aims for the future are to maintain the sale and attract the youth, as these activities have shown us that there are a layer of young people and workers out there who are looking for a socialist solution to the crisis. Contrasting to the Militant days when we had a public profile, there is not one shed of hostility toward us.
Forward to the Fortnightly comrades! Steve Brown”
This is an inspiring example of how every class fighter can do their bit, and not only build the financial resources through sales, but the human resources necessary for the struggle, using Socialist appeal to link up with new people looking for the socialist alternative. If you want to be part of this struggle, write to us and find out how you can do your bit this February.
Forward to the Fortnightly!
