Communist Party of Britain Marxist Leninist

Communist Party of Britain Marxist Leninist We are for an independent, self-sufficient, self-reliant Britain solely dedicated to the interests of the British working class

The Communist Party of Britain Marxist Leninist was founded in 1968. We are rooted in those who labour in Britain by hand and brain. Our roots go back to the early days of Britain’s industrial Revolution, if not before. We are beholden to no one in Britain except the British working class, and to no one abroad except in fraternal solidarity with workers and peasants, be they in power or struggling

for power. The Party’s programme is The British Working Class and its Party. Our thinking is reflected in our Congress documents, published regularly since 1968. There are two classes in Britain: the working class and the capitalist class. We are for the victory of workers at home and abroad and for the absolute rout of Capitalism, in all its variants at home and abroad. All our members are thinkers, doers and leaders. We are firmly rooted in our workplaces, trade unions and the working class structures which arise from them. The Party’s interests are those of the working class, not above, not hectoring, not separate, but part of and from the working class. The Party is rooted in Marxist-Leninist ideology, in its study, in its practice to bring about the establishment of the dictatorship of the proletariat in Britain. We are for an independent, self-sufficient, self-reliant Britain solely dedicated to the interests of the British working class.

Museum Staff Take ActionWorkers have not been lying down during the summer heat. Across the country they have been takin...
02/09/2026

Museum Staff Take Action

Workers have not been lying down during the summer heat. Across the country they have been taking action against employers where working conditions are not good enough.

Read more:
https://www.cpbml.org.uk/news/museum-staff-walkouts

According to the latest official figures, government debt currently stands at around £2.9 trillion, equivalent to around...
08/07/2026

According to the latest official figures, government debt currently stands at around £2.9 trillion, equivalent to around 95 per cent of the country’s gross domestic product.

Interest on this debt was, at £110 billion for 2025-26, the highest in several decades. Government borrowing in May was £23.3 billion, up 30 per cent on a year ago. At this rate, the debt will hit £3 trillion within a few months.

Occasionally we hear that borrowing costs are down on unexpectedly good economic news. But that’s only transitory – the trend is relentlessly upwards, exacerbated by higher interest rates.

Borrowing ever more to cover an income shortfall would trigger alarm bells for any prudent householder. But it is endemic to government thinking.

Historically, the UK government, like most others, spends more that it receives in taxes. It borrows money each year to cover the deficit, primarily through the issue of bonds, known as gilts.

Financial institutions buy these gilts, effectively lending the government money for its spending. They charge interest over the period of the gilt, and then recover the original sum at maturity. Borrowings increase with unexpected spending, such as the financial crash of 2008, or the Covid pandemic.

Over recent years, the Bank of England (the largest lender to the UK government), has departed from previous practice. It now selling on the gilts it holds before they mature, often at a discount of as much as 50 per cent.

When we’re told that taxes must rise or spending must fall, the right response is to challenge the spiralling cost of funding vanity projects (many of them “green”) at the expense of safeguarding industry and looking after the basics.

https://www.cpbml.org.uk/news/government-debt-soars

Victory at Sheffield Hallam University,A dispute at Sheffield Hallam University involving lecturers in the University & ...
08/07/2026

Victory at Sheffield Hallam University,

A dispute at Sheffield Hallam University involving lecturers in the University & College Union (UCU) has been resolved – at least for now – following 13 days of solid strike action during May and June.

The employer scrapped plans to move most academic staff to a wholly owned subsidiary company to create a multi-tier workforce and evade the university’s legal obligation to provide its teaching staff with access to the Teachers’ Pension Scheme.

Around 73 per cent of UCU members voted in a ballot for action, with 88 per cent of those voting for strike action and 93 per cent for action short of a strike. This had resulted in a planned 18 days of strikes.
As reported in Workers in November 2025, the finances of many of Britain’s universities are becoming progressively unstable, sliding deeper and deeper into debt.

Hallam University is attempting to save £27 million by the end of the current academic year, following two years of cuts that have already seen over 1,000 staff leave the university. The university claimed that its proposals were unavoidable in order to secure financial sustainability.

The union does not accept this. It stated that the proposals were short-sighted and would condemn the university to a death spiral of decreasing education quality, declining student numbers and an inability to attract and retain talented staff.

UCU general secretary Jo Grady said, “We welcome the decision of Sheffield Hallam to keep staff employed by the university and in their pension scheme, but they must now rule out compulsory redundancies.”

Grady argued that UCU members should never have been forced to go on strike. She concluded, “…sustained action shows that we will fight for fair working conditions and not stand by and allow management to gut this university in an attempt to save money.”

The UCU strikes at Hallam are the latest in a series of disputes over the past three years. The university has reduced the quality of its teaching by cutting jobs and casualising many staff, as well as attacking the conditions of employment of teaching staff.

https://www.cpbml.org.uk/news/victory-sheffield-hallam-university

Isle of Wight fight for lifeboat base.The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) plans to close its facility in East...
08/07/2026

Isle of Wight fight for lifeboat base.

The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) plans to close its facility in East Cowes on the Isle of Wight. Workers there are fighting to keep their skilled jobs – and for union recognition.

The closure, announced in May, was accompanied by a refusal to recognise the Unite trade union, to which workers at the centre belong. Workers are now balloting on strike action for recognition.

Highly skilled
The Inshore Lifeboat Centre employs around 70 people. It carries out highly skilled work supplying and maintaining the RNLI’s fleet of lifeboats at half their 238 stations around the country.

Workers at the centre maintain the inflatable B and D class lifeboats and inshore rescue boards. The RNLI acknowledges these craft are increasingly important as patterns of coastal use change.

Growth
Many more lifeboat rescues are carried out in inshore waters than in the past. This is due to the grown in popularity of recreational activity such as open water swimming, windsurfing and paddleboarding.

For over sixty years the Island has been an important base for the RNLI. But by 2028 the work will be relocated to Poole, Dorset, on the mainland.

Bitter
Island residents are bitter about the RNLI’s decision and point out the contradiction with the organisation’s humanitarian principles. A petition in support of the workers is gathering widespread support.

The Isle of Wight was once a centre for British marine and aerospace engineering. Now closures and redundancies have left workers there reliant on seasonal employment in tourism, and the country beholden to foreign capitalists for the supply of these commodities.

https://www.cpbml.org.uk/news/isle-wight-fight-lifeboat-base

In late May, the Guardian reported that the Chancellor, Rachel Reeves had written to government colleagues about procure...
08/07/2026

In late May, the Guardian reported that the Chancellor, Rachel Reeves had written to government colleagues about procurement. She told them to buy British “wherever possible” when awarding government contracts for steel, shipbuilding, energy and artificial intelligence.

Before his resignation as defence minister, John Healey announced “a new approach” at the GMB trade union conference on 9 June. He said this “…looks to give credit in future defence contract decisions to British-based companies”.

Healy said that he would make greater use of national security exemptions for defence contracts. These allow the government to direct that certain capabilities are to be built in Britain.

He claimed that for large defence contracts the government would ensure that, “…there are provisions to require any significant sub-contracts to be placed with UK-based companies, or guarantee competitions so UK competitors aren't shut out.”

Reeves and Healey both avoid mentioning that the free trade agreement between the UK and the EU combined with World Trade Organization rules allow companies based in the EU and many WTO member countries to bid for government contracts above certain amounts.

Hence the qualification to buy British “where possible”. And in any case there are tight legal tests which would limit the action to a few sectors important to national security. It is a long way from the impression the government tried to give.

https://www.cpbml.org.uk/news/procurement-words-instead-deeds

Menwith Hill call for independence.On Saturday 4 July, some 40 to 50 protesters gathered outside the main gates of RAF M...
08/07/2026

Menwith Hill call for independence.

On Saturday 4 July, some 40 to 50 protesters gathered outside the main gates of RAF Menwith Hill in North Yorkshire. On US Independence Day, the aim was to highlight and object to the presence of US bases in Britain.

Organised by the Menwith Hill Accountability Campaign, this was the latest of many protests which have taken place at the base over decades. It is a British military establishment in name only. In reality it is operated by the US military, playing a key role in the targeting of US drone strikes and other remote warfare operations.

Self-determination.

The protest took place on the 250th anniversary of the American Declaration of Independence. Members of the campaign read out their own Declaration of Independence, echoing the US founding fathers call for national self-determination.

Essentially, Menwith Hill Accountability Campaign says if freedom from outside interference was good enough for the Americans, then it’s good enough for us: “US bases off British soil”.

The US is able to operate Menwith Hill as one of its own bases under Cold War agreements, the terms of which are still partly secret. It was always intended as a surveillance post aimed at the Soviet Union and its allies.

With advances in signals intelligence technology, it is now one the main bases in a global surveillance network under the control of the US National Security Agency.

This surveillance role has grown despite the end of the Soviet Union and dissolution of the Warsaw Pact. Indeed it continues to grow – no doubt linked to recent expansion at Menwith Hill.

The campaign has also grown over 60 years – from a local group focused on the base to one that seeks to raise awareness about all US visiting forces in Britain and worldwide. And crucially that involves trying to bring about public scrutiny and accountability of the actions of those forces.

https://www.cpbml.org.uk/news/menwith-hill-call-independence

Skilled rail jobs threatenedThe Balfour Beatty rail engineering depot at Crewe is threatened with closure. This threaten...
08/07/2026

Skilled rail jobs threatened

The Balfour Beatty rail engineering depot at Crewe is threatened with closure. This threatens 67 skilled jobs there and in Preston. This will further undermine the loss of expertise in the industry.

Their union RMT, supported by the TUC, has demanded that the government intervene to protect these jobs. They say this is more than a simple commercial decision and reflects problems in the wider structure of the railways.

Railway infrastructure was nationalised under Network Rail over 20 years ago. And more recently the government decided to gradually return passenger operators to the public sector, a process that is nearly complete.

The Balfour Beatty workers are some of many still in the private sector even after government decisions to partially nationalise the railways.

Network Rail maintains the railway using its own workforce. But it continues to employ contractors like Balfour Beatty to carry out renewal of track, signalling, and electrical power systems.

Before privatisation of the railways in the 1990s, most renewals were carried out by British Rail’s directly employed staff. From 1994 to 2002 a private company, Railtrack, was responsible for the infrastructure. A series of accidents and financial difficulties resulted in transfer back to the public sector.

Network Rail currently operates under government funding constraints. Renewals work has been deferred. Ageing infrastructure assets are nursed along with “reactive maintenance” – a term for “when it breaks, we will fix it”. This approach has led to the current threat to jobs at Balfour Beatty.

The backlog of rail renewals is growing. That means a greater need for skilled rail workers in the future – not cuts. RMT and the TUC warned that allowing the loss of such staff would further weaken the industry’s skills base.

Full article:
https://www.cpbml.org.uk/news/skilled-rail-jobs-threatened

Iran war ends in US defeatThe criminal war waged on Iran by the USA has come to an end, for now. This is important, not ...
26/06/2026

Iran war ends in US defeat

The criminal war waged on Iran by the USA has come to an end, for now. This is important, not just because needless loss of life has ceased, but because the US has lost.

The US government had two aims for the war. Firstly, to prevent Iran from building a nuclear industry, civil or military. And secondly to change Iran’s government to one subservient to US wishes.

It has failed on both counts, which is why the war’s ending constitutes a defeat for the US.

The USA assumes the right to assassinate and kidnap country’s leaders, and to kill and injure thousands of non-combatants. This itself constitutes a war crime.
And it does these things thousands of miles away from its own borders for the most base motives; oil never being far away. This compounds a crime which should have been condemned more widely than has been the case.

We can expect this war to be described as a victory. For Trump and the domestic US media, US armed forces can never lose. And their craven followers elsewhere, unable to see beyond demonising the Iranian regime, will follow suit.

Anyone in doubt that the US has lost should look at the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Iran which has ended the war. Every one of its 14 points represents defeat for the US.

Not only have the two US war aims not been achieved, they are explicitly rejected. Point 2 of the MoU is the key paragraph, “the United States of America and the Islamic Republic of Iran undertake to respect each other’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and to refrain from interfering in each other’s internal affairs”.

This is the key principle in international relations, and a cornerstone of the United Nations. And the UN is set to endorse the agreement, to add the discomfort of the US.

Further, the US agrees to lift the sanctions illegally imposed on Iran – and even agrees to invest in Iran ($300 billion, MoU point 6)! This demonstrates how comprehensive a defeat the US warmongers have suffered.
Read more:
https://www.cpbml.org.uk/news/iran-war-ends-us-defeat

Keep the North Sea working.The decisive defeat of the Scottish National Party in the Aberdeen South by-election for the...
22/06/2026

Keep the North Sea working.

The decisive defeat of the Scottish National Party in the Aberdeen South by-election for the British Parliament has been widely viewed as being a result of anger against the 'net-zero' policies of both the SNP and the Labour government.

Petition organised by Unite the Union:

https://actionnetwork.org/forms/keep-the-north-sea-working-political-party-leaders-must-explain-how-they-plan-to-futureproof-jobs-support-communities?fbclid=IwY2xjawSl-JZleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFjbGZ0emVzYlh1M1RycTMwc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHh7iKajpLPyUAn9-6ykQC4XmeG6aSiMxZT7wHXR1amPmDVqc_yddZHO2mn0D_aem_tUI0efIMvwBBetMKe8EteQ

Elections bring no real changeAs the dust settles after the Makerfield and Aberdeen South by-elections it's worth, as al...
22/06/2026

Elections bring no real change

As the dust settles after the Makerfield and Aberdeen South by-elections it's worth, as always, facing reality.

Britain cannot do without oil and gas. Even though oil and gas production is forecast to be cut from 74 million tonnes in 2022 to 33 million tonnes by 2030, these 33 million tonnes are still needed. Even on government projections, oil and gas will meet a fifth of our needs in 2050 – the year when the government aims for us to have net zero carbon emissions.

Yet successive governments have chosen to import energy rather than produce it. Energy secretary Ed Miliband has gone even further by banning all new drilling and all new exploration for oil and gas.

Not a single exploration well was drilled in British waters last year – for the first time since 1964. But Norway, which shares the North Sea basin, drilled 49 exploration wells last year, making 21 new discoveries in the process.

That reality needs wider recognition.

We should also recognise that people want an end to the costly EU reset; they want policies which prioritise Britain over foreign interests; they want industry back; they want jobs and the revival of communities; they want housing and to be able to eat healthily; they want to be able to afford to bring up a family.

Yet there is little sign of any recognition among workers that a different leader, or a different party, will offer anything different in reality. It’s not the job of British workers to save the Labour Party for fear of what comes after.

Instead, why don’t workers themselves take the initiative to promote unity out of the divisions and contradictions among workers?

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