The communists are once again making a splash on campuses across Britain.
This freshers’ period will be special for a number of reasons: not only are more young people than ever before being drawn to communist ideas, but this is our first autumn offensive organised under the fresh banner of the Revolutionary Communist Party, and armed with The Communist.
Mobilisation
This will also be our biggest mobilisation yet, with interventions planned at over 50 universities and colleges in the coming weeks.
Not only are we expanding our forces in towns and cities where we have an established presence, but we are also making inroads into new areas.
We now have an official Communist Society at Teesside university, for example, a budding new branch based around Kingston University, as well as brand new cells in places like Sunderland and Derby.
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It’s not just university students that are feeling the impact of the crisis of capitalism. Our comrades have received a great deal of interest from school and college students too. One of our stalls outside of a school in Lancaster was reportedly “swarmed” with young people.
And in Balham, the comrades had chats with school students about how their schools are falling apart, while Starmer is spending all the money on bombing Palestine. These students were delighted to hear that we wanted to help them set up a communist cell in their school.
Elsewhere, in Brighton, one school student who wanted to start a communist group at his school took a copy of The Communist off us and showed it to a group of eight friends, who gathered around, and immediately started reading through it.
Optimism
Only a couple of weeks into the freshers period, we have intervened at Bristol, Derby, Edinburgh, Edinburgh Napier, Glasgow, Greenwich, King’s College London, Kingston, Leeds Arts, Leeds Beckett, Liverpool, London Metropolitan, Manchester, Queen Mary, Sheffield Hallam, Sunderland, Teesside, University of Arts London, University of East Anglia, Westminster, and York.
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The level of interest that we have received is unlike anything we have seen before.
In Bristol, for example, 70 people expressed an interest in finding out more; a dozen said that they wanted to join the Party immediately; and we sold over 50 copies of The Communist.
In Edinburgh, meanwhile, a number of students commented that the RCP stood out to them, because it was clear that we were a serious party, not just a student society.
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One student said they were impressed by our comrades’ optimism, which was a welcome change from the pessimism that emanates from the rest of the left and the mainstream media.
And in Manchester, over 100 people signed up to get involved in the Communist Society, with two dozen of these people saying they are interested in joining the RCP. On top of that, around 80 copies of The Communist were sold in the course of the week.
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Many comrades have reported that the level of political consciousness and radicalisation is also noticeably higher, even compared to just 12 months ago.
In a lot of places, the majority of people who approached our stalls already considered themselves communists, had begun to tackle Marxist theory, and were explicitly looking to get organised.
Generation Revolution
Unsurprisingly, with tensions between the major powers sharpening across the world, there was a great deal of interest in the question of imperialism, and in particular the complicity of western governments in the ongoing genocide in Palestine.
For this reason, our ‘Books Not Bombs’ campaign has garnered a lot of attention, with students curious and excited to hear about our plans to educate, agitate, and organise around the question of fighting imperialism – including the warmongers in Westminster and the university bosses.
In Manchester, the stall completely sold out of copies of Lenin’s book Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism. This shows how much of a burning question this is in the minds of young people.
It is becoming increasingly clear that people are being radicalised by their own experiences: in the Palestine movement; fighting the far right; and suffering first-hand the deteriorating conditions that young people face.
It also comes as no surprise that students can’t stand Starmer and his big–business Labour government.
The change in consciousness applies equally to international students too. Comrades across the country have reported interest from young Nigerians and Kenyans, for example, who have also been radicalised by the explosive mass movements against austerity back home.
Clearly, the radicalisation of the youth knows no borders: ‘Generation Revolution’ is an international phenomenon.
Recognised force
Despite being established only four months ago, the RCP has already become a recognisable force amongst young people across Britain.
Our Party has become known for our determined activity around Palestine over the last year – in the Palestine solidarity movement, the student encampments, and Fiona Lali’s election campaign in Stratford & Bow.
In Queen Mary University of London (QMUL), for example, a number of young Muslim women approached our stall, having heard about our leading role in the local encampment earlier this year.
Fiona, in particular, has been widely recognised, thanks to her defiant, revolutionary, anti-imperialist platform. Students have said that they are excited to join Fiona’s party – a party of “warriors”, as one international student described Fiona.
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Given her profile, Fiona is embarking on a speaking tour of UK universities, to promote the ‘Books Not Bombs’ campaign.
Having kicked things off in Edinburgh last week, Fiona will be heading to Sheffield, Leeds, Manchester, Birmingham, Oxford, Cambridge, and London in the coming weeks.
Defiance
As well as receiving unprecedented amounts of support and enthusiasm, however, we have also come under attack by our enemies and detractors.
In one shocking incident in Wales, while our Cardiff comrades were out promoting their first meeting, a reactionary passer-by violently attacked a comrade called Lewis, requiring him to receive stitches on his face.
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But this didn’t deter the comrades one bit. Lewis was back out on the stall the same day to spread our ideas amongst the youth.
The comrades then bumped into this thug a few days later, and he ran away with his tail between his legs when we confronted him in greater numbers. This bold, defiant attitude in the face of attacks is a fine example of communist grit!
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Elsewhere, like in Sunderland, the comrades have had the police called on them by student union bureaucrats, simply for trying to engage students in conversation about communism and revolution – God forbid!
And in Greenwich, the comrades were also forced off of campus by the student union bureaucracy; this time because the Communist Society was deregistered last academic year for putting forward a revolutionary position on Palestine.
If there’s one thing that we’ve learned in the past year, however, since the 7 October attacks, it’s that no amount of intimidation and repression from university authorities, the media, or the state will silence or deter the revolutionary communists!
We are determined to build a powerful revolutionary force amongst the youth, come hell or high water.
Only getting started
This is just a taste of what we have in store for the coming weeks and months.
Next week will see a massive wave of freshers’ fairs. And RCP branches will be holding dozens of opening meetings on communism, imperialism, and why students should join the RCP.
All the while, comrades will be building towards the Revolution Festival (November 15-17): the crescendo of the autumn offensive, and a chance to celebrate our enormous successes.
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Our aims are simple: to find and educate Britain’s communist generation in the ideas of genuine Marxism; and to organise them into a fighting force, ready to lead their class in the battles that lie ahead.
So if you’re a student reading this, and you want to get organised with the Revolutionary Communists at your university, college, or school – then don’t hesitate: join the RCP today!
More reports to follow next week…
