Socialist Appeal wrapped 2023

2023 has been a bumper year for the communists of the International Marxist Tendency.

The turmoil and instability of the capitalist system – which has produced nothing but attacks on living standards, bloody imperialist wars, and climate breakdown – have transformed the consciousness of workers and youth the world over.

Class struggle is on the rise, the establishment parties are in crisis, and mass movements are exploding left, right, and centre.

To quote the words of French liberal Alexis de Tocqueville, spoken on the eve of the 1848 Revolutions:

“We are sleeping on a volcano… Do you not see that the earth trembles anew? A wind blows, the storm is on the horizon.”

But whereas de Tocqueville, a counter-revolutionary aristocrat, viewed the growing radical mood in society with horror, we, the communists, welcome it with open arms!

Millions of young people are now heading straight towards the ideas of Marxism and communism, and are looking to get organised. The situation could not be more favourable for revolutionaries!

Are you a communist?

To meet this growing radicalisation, in April 2023, the British section of the IMT launched a bold recruitment campaign under the banner ‘Are you a communist? Then get organised’.

As part of this open appeal to revolutionary workers and youth, we set an ambitious target of reaching 1,000 members by the end of the year.

Across the country, over one hundred thousand posters and stickers were stuck up. Thousands of people have applied to join our ranks. New branches and cells have been established by the dozen, including in places where we had no previous presence.

Then, from October onwards, IMT branches intervened in the Palestine solidarity movement, raising the bold slogan of ‘Intifada ‘til victory’.

Across Britain, the communists have played a leading role in mobilising internationalist solidarity with Palestine, from organising student walk-outs, or speaking at dozens of local rallies, putting forward a revolutionary programme to free Palestine.

Looking ahead

On the back of this year’s hard work, we were proud to announce at last month’s biggest-ever Revolution Festival that we have smashed this target, with well over 1,100 communists organised in our ranks.

But we still have some way to go before we can become a factor in the class struggle. We are in a race against time to prepare the forces of communism for the impending crisis and turmoil of a Starmer government.

For this reason, we have set ourselves a target of reaching 2,000 members by the end of 2024.

What’s more, we have made the decision to replace our well-worn socialist uniform with a fresh communist one.

From January 2024, Socialist Appeal will be relaunched as The Communist, a genuine voice for the working class.

This paper, in turn, will provide the platform for our campaign to found the Revolutionary Communist Party in May 2024.

2023 has been a year to remember. But with all these exciting plans lined up, 2024 will no doubt be even greater.

We urge all of our readers and supporters to help us achieve our goals. Take out a subscription to The Communist, donate to our party launch fund, and, most importantly of all, join the communists and help us build the RCP!

Forward to a Red 2024!

2023 in numbers

45% membership growth since January 23
20% increase in Wellred Books sales
26% increase in Socialist Appeal copies sold
34% increase in hits to socialist.net (850,000+ total hits)
124% increase in fighting fund donations

Are you a communist?

111,000 stickers produced
10,000+ stickers scanned
41,250 posters produced
6,000+ posters scanned
3,400+ applications to join
527 new recruits to the British section of the IMT