Britain’s Communist party will not field any general election candidates for the first time since its formation in 1920 in order to throw its weight behind Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour party.

Declaring its endorsement of Labour’s leader, the Communist Party of Britain said victory for Mr Corbyn at the general election in June would be “the first step towards a formation of left-led government at Westminster”.

The party's general secretary Robert Griffiths added that it was crucial to stop the Labour leader facing a leadership challenge from “right-wing” figures in his own party. He added his party was in “no doubt” that Mr Corbyn’s party “serves the interests of workers and their families”.

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It came as the Labour leader made his first visit to Scotland of the election campaign and unapologetically celebrated his party’s relationship with the trade unions. Addressing delegates at the Scottish Trade Union Congress directly, he added: “You are our family”.

In a statement on the Communist Party of Britain’s official website, Mr Griffiths said:"In every general election since the formation of the CP in 1920, we have stood our own candidates, not least in 2015 when we fielded nine. Now, on this occasion, we will not contest any seats, although this does not signal any withdrawal from the electoral arena in the future.

"We call for a Labour vote in every constituency across Britain, despite the reactionary views of numerous Labour Party candidates."

Mr Griffiths added: "The maximum possible Labour vote is necessary not only to secure the election of a Labour government. We also recognise that this election marks a further intensification of the left-right struggle within the labour movement and the Labour Party.

"The higher the Labour vote and the number of Labour MPs elected, the more secure will be the position of Jeremy Corbyn and his left allies in the parliamentary Labour Party.

"Any reverses for Labour will be used as a pretext by the right-wing pro-EU, pro-Nato faction in the parliamentary Labour Party and its trade union allies to launch yet another bid to remove Jeremy Corbyn and take the Labour Party back to the neoliberal and pro-war policies of the past."

But the Conservatives seized on the endorsement. Amanda Milling, a Tory MP who sits on the business, energy and industrial strategy committee in Westminster, said: “Let this sink in: Jeremy Corbyn has been endorsed today by a party who want to close down businesses, leave the protection of NATO and hike up taxes to a level never seen before in this country.

“At this election every vote is going to count. Unless people get out there and vote for Theresa May and their local Conservative candidate, this man will be our Prime Minister in a little over 6 weeks – propped up by the Lib Dems and SNP in a coalition of chaos.” </s> The Communist Party of Great Britain will not stand any candidates in the election, and has called for supporters to vote for Jeremy Corbyn .

It’s the first time since 1920 the party has fielded no candidates in a general election.

The party, which has had five MPs elected to parliament in its 97 year history, said they would be ‘campaigning for a Labour victory.’

A Labour party spokesman said: “Even a stopped clock tells the right time twice a day.”

Communist Party general secretary Robert Griffiths said: “Labour's policies in this election include more progressive taxation, state bank investment in public services, support for industry, an end to NHS privatisation, public ownership of the railways, community ownership of energy, an end to zero-hours contracts, the restoration of employment and trade union rights and building half a million new council houses.

“The Communist Party is in no doubt that this second option is the only one that serves the interests of workers and their families. Therefore our members will be campaigning for a Labour victory as the essential first step towards the formation of a left-led government at Westminster.”

He added: “The higher the Labour vote and the number of Labour MPs elected, the more secure will be the position of Jeremy Corbyn and his left allies in the Parliamentary Labour Party .”

Lib Dem MP Alistair Carmichael said: “From 1920 to 2017 the Communist Party of Great Britain elected 5 MPs.

“They have obviously concluded they can continue in that tradition by backing Jeremy Corbyn ’s Labour Party. I think that they are probably right about that.” </s> The Communist Party of Britain has announced it will not stand candidates at the election and ask its supporters to vote for Corbyn’s Labour instead. The reds write in the Morning Star, obviously:

“In every general election since the formation of the CP in 1920, we have stood our own candidates, not least in 2015 when we fielded nine. Now, on this occasion, we we will not contest any seats, although this does not signal any withdrawal from the electoral arena in the future. “We call for a Labour vote in every constituency across Britain, despite the reactionary views of numerous Labour Party candidates. Communist Party organisations will approach local Labour Party bodies in their area with offers of practical campaigning assistance… “The higher the Labour vote and the number of Labour MPs elected, the more secure will be the position of Jeremy Corbyn and his left allies in the Parliamentary Labour Party.”

What a day for the Tories – Communist-backed Labour busy arguing about Trident, UKIP’s leader bottling standing…

In the eighties the Communist Party of Great Britain was split between a ‘Stalinist’ pro-Soviet faction and an anti-Soviet “Eurocommunist” faction. Some lefties were very upset that the CPGB was rejecting Soviet communism. They denounced the Eurocommunists as CIA plants. The anti-Eurocommunist faction included Corbyn’s two top spinners Seumas Milne and Steve Howell. Milne and Howell worked for Straight Left, a Stalinist newspaper which represented the pro-Soviet, anti-Eurocommunist wing of the CPGB. Pro-Soviet CPGB members split and set up the Communist Party of Britain. Supporters included Stop the War’s Andrew Murray, a friend of Corbyn. It is this Communist Party of Britain, the pro-Soviet, Stalinist wing full of Corbyn’s old mates, which has endorsed Labour today… </s> The biggest rail union is giving its full support to Labour in the General Election, warning that another Conservative government would continue “attacks” on workers.

The Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union, which is not affiliated to the Labour Party, praised the policies already announced by Jeremy Corbyn, including the repeal of the Trade Union Act.

RMT general secretary Mick Cash said: “Jeremy Corbyn is the genuine article, who has a vision of Britain based on hope not fear, that delivers for working people.

“He has pledged to put transport, and the renationalisation of our railways, right at the top of the agenda. That´s a policy that is backed by 70% of the British people and stands in stark contrast to the privatised racketeering on our tracks under the Tories.

“In contrast to Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party, Theresa May is a hard-right politician who is seeking a mandate to carry out the agenda of the big business establishment. That means more cuts to our public services and driving down pay and job security through shredding employment and trade union protections.”

The Labour leader has also won the support of the Communist Party of Britain, whose general secretary Robert Griffiths said a Labour victory would be an “essential first step” towards a left-wing UK government, and crucial to stop Mr Corbyn facing a leadership challenge from “right-wing” figures in his own party.

The Communists will not field any general election candidates for the first time in its history and said it would be approaching local Labour parties “with offers of practical campaigning assistance” ahead of the June 8 poll. </s> Britain's main opposition leader has launched his election campaign, painting himself as a populist outsider who will overturn a "rigged" political and economic system.

Labour Party chief Jeremy Corbyn says Britain's June 8 election is "the establishment vs. the people."

Labour is trailing Prime Minister Theresa May's Conservatives in opinion polls, and many within the party think the socialist Corbyn is too left-wing to connect with voters.

But Corbyn echoed anti-establishment sentiment that has upended politics from the United States to France. He said in a speech Thursday that the old rules drawn up by political and economic elites no longer apply.

Corbyn said: "I don't play by their rules, and if a Labour government is elected on the 8th of June I won't play by their rules either." </s> Jeremy Corbyn will take his upbeat campaign message to Scotland on Monday, promising to “fight for every seat in every corner of these isles”.

Labour has just one MP at Westminster representing a Scottish constituency, Edinburgh South, after the party’s vote in the north collapsed in 2015.

But while his party lags behind the Conservatives by more than 20 points in the polls, Corbyn will tell the Scottish TUC in Aviemore that he relishes the challenge of the snap election and is “in it to win it”. He will also outline the party’s policies, including a requirement for firms bidding for government contracts to recognise unions and an increase in the minimum wage to £10 an hour by 2020.

Corbyn’s speech comes as his party scrambles to finalise a fully-costed manifesto. While a series of headline policies have been announced in recent weeks, Labour members received an email on Sunday asking them to give their views on what policies should be included. The consultation doesn’t close until 2 May, and the Guardian understands that the Clause V committee – the key party grouping which must sign off the plans – is not expected to meet until 11 May.

Corbyn’s team are keen for Labour’s campaign to be livelier than Theresa May’s tightly-controlled strategy, and hope to benefit from what they regard as his authenticity.

But the risks of that approach were underlined on Sunday when they were forced to move hastily to shut down speculation that Labour could withdraw support for Britain’s nuclear deterrent, after Corbyn appeared to leave open the idea that renewing Trident could be left out of the party’s manifesto.

In an interview on BBC1’s The Andrew Marr Show, Corbyn, who has been a longstanding campaigner against nuclear proliferation, said he did not believe maintaining Trident would make the UK safer.

“The issue has to be that we want a secure and peaceful world,” Corbyn said. “You achieve that by promoting peace and also promoting security. Security comes from that process.”

He said a Labour government would hold an immediate defence review, adding: “We haven’t completed work on the manifesto ... We are less than 100 hours into this election campaign. We are having this discussion within the Labour party.”

Shortly afterwards, as speculation mounted that Labour could be set to dump its backing for the nuclear deterrent – an issue Labour MPs are deeply divided about – a spokesperson issued a statement saying: “The decision to renew Trident has been taken and Labour supports that.”

“We also want Britain to do much more to pursue a proactive, multilateral disarmament strategy,” he added.

It was the second time since Theresa May announced the snap election that Labour has had to clarify its position on key campaign issues.



At the party’s campaign launch event on Thursday, both Corbyn and the shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, appeared to refuse to rule out backing a referendum on the final Brexit deal. But Labour later issued a statement saying a second referendum would not be in the manifesto.

Corbyn was also pressed by Andrew Marr on his approach to the use of nuclear weapons. New prime ministers are asked to write “letters of last resort” on their first day in office, which are sealed and given to captains of the UK’s nuclear submarines in the event that the government is wiped out by a nuclear strike.



Asked whether, as prime minister, he would instruct a retaliation in his letter, Corbyn said: “I have made clear there would be no first use of it. I’ve made clear any use of nuclear weapons would be a disaster for the whole world.

“Nuclear weapons are not the solution to the world’s security issues. They are a disaster if ever used.”

He also said he would be cautious about acting on military intelligence if he were ever asked to authorise a drone strike on the Islamic State leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. “What is the objective? To have more strikes that would kill more possibly innocent people, or to get a political solution in Syria?” Corbyn asked.

“Does this help to get a political solution? I think the leader of Isis not being around would be helpful, but I would also argue that the bombing campaign has killed a large number of civilians, many of them virtual prisoners of Isis.”

The home secretary, Amber Rudd, said the comments made it clear Corbyn would “refuse to strike against terrorists, dismantle our nuclear defences and fail to control our borders”. </s> Jeremy Corbyn will remain leader of the Labour Party regardless of what happens on June 8, the party’s election coordinator has suggested as he claimed “it’s only the beginning of the Corbyn project”.

Ian Lavery hinted at an election rally in Glasgow on Sunday that defeat would not... </s> LONDON — The conventional wisdom in Westminster is that defeat for Labour in the general election would force Jeremy Corbyn to resign as leader.

But would it really? There are several very good reasons to believe otherwise.

Winning elections is not the main priority for Corbyn supporters

A poll of Labour members earlier this year found that among Corbyn supporters "understanding what it takes to win an election" came in tenth place among a list of 12 priorities for the next Labour leader, as opposed to "moves the party to the left" which came first.

Of course, it's always possible that a heavy defeat in the general election would completely change Labour members' priorities, but as things stand, electoral success is not at the front of their minds.

There is not an obvious successor

Polling of Labour members does show that he has lost some support since his second leadership victory. However, the same polling also shows that there is no obvious candidate to replace him.

Among all Labour members, Shadow Brexit secretary Keir Starmer has the most support as a potential replacement, yet there were still only 43% of Labour members who believed he would make a good leader as opposed to the nearly 62% of Labour members who backed Corbyn in last year's leadership contest. And that poll was only for potential candidates should Corbyn stand down. If he refuses to go then there is still nobody in the frame that looks likely to beat him.

The Corbyn project is not finished

Corbyn came very close to standing down during last year's challenge against his leadership but was convinced not to do so by his allies because the project to take over the Labour party had not yet been completed.

The next phase of that project will take place in September whenthe party is due to debate a conference motion to lower the threshold for the number of Labour MPs required to nominate a candidate for the Labour leadership. If Corbyn were to stand down before then, the next leadership race would happen under current rules which make it very hard for a left-leaning candidate to gain the nomination.

Some Corbynsceptic MPs are also working on a plan to return Labour to an electoral college system which would make it even more difficult for a Corbynite MP to become Corbyn's successor. For these reasons, Corbyn could decide to stay on at least until the party conference in September, if not beyond.

A look at the list of Labour MPs whose seats are most under threat at the upcoming general election does not include many names of Corbyn's supporters. For obvious reasons, those most likely to lose their seats against the Tories have been among the Labour leaders' biggest critics over the past two years. Were Labour to suffer a particularly heavy defeat then it would have the side-effect of removing a big chunk of Corbyn's critics. It would also have the effect of lowering the number of MPs that Corbyn's chosen successor would need to gain the nomination, which in turn would increase the incentive for Corbyn to cling on until a change in the leadership rules could be secured.

Corbyn already has his excuses in

Ordinarily, you'd expect the leader of the opposition to accept the brunt of the blame for a heavy defeat. Certainly that has been the case for most previous opposition leaders who have been rejected by the country.

However, Corbyn's support base have long been primed in the belief that his unpopularity is due to everyone but Corbyn himself. Whether it's Labour MPs who launched a "coup" against him last year, or journalists from the "MSM" who are viewed with increasing contempt by Corbyn's supporters and the man himself, the excuses for a heavy Labour defeat have long been written. This would particularly be the case if the final result is closer than current polls suggest.

While an early departure for Corbyn might seem like the most likely outcome of a Labour defeat in June, as things stand it is by no means certain. </s> In his first major general election speech, he said 8 June’s poll was not a “foregone conclusion” and Labour could defy the “Establishment experts”.

A Soviet Labour government would not “play by their rules,” he added.

No more elections once Labour in power

“We would also change election rules once Labour is back in power. Once we win, there will be no more need for elections in Soviet Britain ever again. This election could therefore be the last ever election you see in your lifetime,” Corbyn stressed.

The biased leftist BBC is fully behind Corbyn’s bid to thwart Theresa May’s hope to convert the Tories’ double digit poll lead into a bigger Commons majority.

Corbyn’s Labour government would halt Brexit and stop Theresa May strengthening her hand in Brexit negotiations providing the “strong and stable leadership” the country needs.

Instead, the majority Labour Remoaners would seek to fully reverse any notions of leaving the European Union and renegotiate with Brussels on full implementation into stronger EU union.

The Labour leader looks set to run an anti-bourgeoisie campaign, presenting himself as a champion of the powerless proletariat against political and business culture.

He attacked the “morally bankrupt” Conservatives who he said would not stand up to those who seek wealth from hard work and other members of a “gilded elite,” who were extracting wealth “from the unfortunate circumstances of ordinary unemployed and unemployable people” who are the root of Labour’s voting underclass.

Labour would “end this racket” and “overturn the rigged system,” he told an audience of Labour supporters in London.

“Once we’re in power, everyone will be equal in poverty and suffering. There will be no more aspirations or silly things like that,” Comrade Corbyn added.

He also said Labour was the only party that would “focus on the kind of country we want to have” – dismissing Mrs May’s election campaign as an “ego trip about her own failing leadership”.

“Let us look at the other socialist utopia — Venezuela. We want our nation to resemble that South American dream of extreme poverty, anarchy and chaos.”

And he insisted all of Labour’s policies, including an increase in corporation tax for big business and more money for carers and a £10 an hour minimum wage, were fully costed.

“If you own a property today, once we win you will not own that property any more. The owning of all private property is theft from the poorest of our society. For too long, wealth has been allowed to accumulate in private housing. Our collectivist Soviet system will free up wealth from private citizens and all property ownership will transfer to the state, to be redistributed to the populace as needed.”

Addressing Labour’s poor opinion poll ratings, he said he was given a 200/1 chance of becoming Labour leader in 2015 and he defied those odds.

“They have tried to oust me many times, but I as supreme Comrade to the Soviet Labour Marxist social-democratic party have endured and survived many attempts to remove me. They shall not prevail, as they have failed in the past, so today I survive and will survive to lead our great Soviet nation onwards.”

His message was uncompromising. Jeremy Corbyn attacked targets from what he called the ruling bourgeois elite. In doing so, he was trying to recapture the energy and rhetoric which enabled him to win not one, but two, Labour leadership contests.

He said a future Labour government wouldn’t play by the rules and denounced his Conservative opponents as morally bankrupt. Corbyn vowed to end the scourge of capitalism once and for all by ousting all bankers from the City, the media and business people were also in his sights – it created dividing lines not just with his current political opponents but with his party’s New Labour past.

“I will throw these financiers, capitalist scum, business profiteers into the back streets where they will be beaten, stripped of all wealth and seen off.”

Corbyn’s speech received a standing ovation from the invited audience of Labour members and was designed, in part, to motivate newer recruits in particular to campaign over the next seven weeks. It could also shore up the party’s core support.

There were spontaneous shouts of ‘Hail! Comrade Corbyn’ and ‘Bravo! Our Supreme white socked Soviet Comrade!”
The Communist Party of Britain announces it will not field any candidates in the upcoming general election for the first time since its formation in 1920, and endorses Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, saying victory for Mr Corbyn at the general election in June would be “the first step towards a formation of left-led government at Westminster”.