Revolutionary Communist Party of Britain (Marxist-Leninist)
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The Revolutionary Communist Party of Britain (Marxist-Leninist) (RCPB-ML) is a British communist political party. It was originally named the Communist Party of England (Marxist-Leninist), until it was reorganised after rejecting Maoism. The party's thinking is based on the politics of Hardial Bains, who died in 1997. Born in India, Bains travelled the world founding anti-revisionist communist parties.
Like other Bains-inspired parties, the then CPE(ML) took the Chinese side in the Sino-Soviet split, thus being endorsed by Albania, then allied with Maoist China, and opposing both the capitalist West and the Soviet bloc. As a result, it supported the Three Worlds concept promoted by Beijing, which for a time in the 1970s meant it adopted the position of backing NATO as a bulwark against Soviet "social-imperialism".
During the deterioration in Sino-Albanian relations, it increasingly sided with the Party of Labour of Albania. It developed party to party relations with the Party of Labour of Albania and renounced Maoism.
The party has had notable links with the progressive music milieu with avant-garde composers such as the late Cornelius Cardew and Michael Chant being leading members.
The party has a system of collective leadership. Its current National Spokesperson is Chris Coleman.[1]
It is a very small party, closely related to the Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist) and now has good relations with the New Communist Party of Britain. It produces a daily internet newspaper called Workers' Daily Internet Edition (WDIE), runs a bookshop in south London named John Buckle Books (named after the RCPB(ML) founding general secretary) and is active in promoting solidarity with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. In 2004, the party declared electoral support for the Respect Coalition, but RCPB(ML) calls for an end to the system that brings parties to power and calls on workers' and peoples' collectives to intervene directly in the political process. The party therefore supports candidates of the alternative to the political system of the bourgeoisie.
The party's logo is a black hammer and sickle within a yellow star on a red background.
See also: List of Communist Parties, List of political parties in the United Kingdom, Sino-Soviet split
