214:
throughout the new organisation. Others, notably Fergus
Nicholson, decided not to join any party; whether through a continued distaste at having to work with once reviled rivals, or a belief that the conditions were no longer suitable to the creation of a Communist party in Britain is not clear, but they stayed resolutely outside the CPB. Many former leading figures in the faction who did not join the CPB ceased political activity, whilst others remained active in broader movements.
108:
Charlie Woods, who had been the CPGB's
Northern organiser in the late 1930s, was the faction's oldest link to a period when the CPGB was operating in a manner to which the Straight Left faction hoped the CPGB would eventually return. A significant number of Straight Left faction members had developed
104:
The faction produced a dissident internal pamphlet entitled "The Crisis in Our
Communist Party - Cause, Effect and Cure", which was distributed nationally but not under its name. This was authored (in all likelihood in conjunction with others), by veteran miner and communist Charlie Woods, who was
133:
education in the branches. The faction recruited members from within the CPGB and required members to demonstrate a high level of commitment. The faction was critical of those who were increasingly focusing not on traditional class politics but on the new social forces around the environment and
128:
Many
Straight Left supporters felt that the style of organisation and the overall ethos of these organisations was significantly more impressive than the CPGB at that stage, and as a result sought to steer the CPGB. They wished the CPGB to return to a more pro-Soviet stance, with high levels of
213:
and Nick Wright, formed a group called "Communist
Liaison"; after the dissolution of the CPGB in 1991 they published a newsletter called "Diamat" but it later dissolved and most of them, including Wright and Murray, joined the Communist Party of Britain (CPB), soon taking up leading positions
85:, SL operated in secret. Members of the faction contributed funds to the organisation through significant monthly donations, which helped fund the groups educational gatherings, often referred to as camping weekends. Its meetings were not publicly announced, and writers in their newspaper
229:
newspaper/magazine, published by
Nicholson and his most loyal supporters, continued to appear long after the bulk of the original faction had decided to follow Andrew Murray and Nick Wright into the Communist Party of Britain. After a series of annual conferences,
146:
newspaper was launched as a political monthly that claimed to be a "non-party, non sectarian journal of the left, committed to working class unity and class consciousness". It was edited by Mike
Toumazou and the business manager was
134:
feminism. The faction's opposition to the leadership of the CPGB was visceral and extremely time-consuming for its members, and many faction members were expelled throughout this period.
908:
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The leading ideological force in the
Straight Left faction was Fergus Nicholson, who had previously worked as the CPGB's student organiser. According to Michael Mosbacher in
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politics, and were responsible for the production of the newspaper. The origins of this faction within the CPGB go back earlier, but it emerged under this name in 1977.
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was "Harry Steel". The
Straight Left faction also produced anonymous bulletins to try to influence CPGB Congresses, usually under the heading "Congress Truth".
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eventually ceased publication as a newspaper, due to the difficulties in maintaining sales and production. The main publication of the group is now
54:
magazine, the faction was "a hard-line anti-reformist pro-Soviet faction within the
Communist Party". Unlike the leadership, they supported the
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was a left-wing newspaper published from 1979. The phrase was also the generic name given to a political faction of the
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membership commitment, a focus on working-class organisation, as well as a strong emphasis on
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Straight Left supporters chose to stay in the CPGB when rival factions split off to form the
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MP. Frank Swift was responsible for fund-raising. In effect, it copied the tactics of the
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close personal friendships with members of fraternal communist parties, particularly the
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151:. Though it was a faction within the CPGB it had supporters within the
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parties, who were well organised on most British University campuses.
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in 1979. They also thought the party should concentrate its work in
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expelled from the CPGB for putting his name to the publication.
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Not to be confused with autobiographes of Irish Labour figures
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with the pretence that its members were merely readers of the
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Communist Party (British Section of the Third International)
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Socialist newspapers published in the United Kingdom
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Political newspapers published in the United Kingdom
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Committee to Defeat Revisionism, for Communist Unity
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1008:Defunct newspapers published in the United Kingdom
81:Because the CPGB's rules banned the formation of
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209:(CPB), in 1988. Some leading members, such as
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36:who disagreed with the leadership's emerging
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155:. The editorial advisory panel consisted of
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280:"The Stalinist Past Of Corbyn's Strategist"
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909:Communist Party of Great Britain (PCC)
934:Revolutionary Marxist–Leninist League
807:National Unemployed Workers' Movement
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360:Singleton, David (26 February 2017).
278:Mosbacher, Michael (December 2015).
245:'s leadership of the Labour Party.
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179:, Gordon Schaffer and
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683:Ian McKay (1982–1991)
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341:. 27 February 2017
142:In March 1979 the
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492:Nina Temple
488:(1975–1989)
482:(1956–1975)
480:John Gollan
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470:(1939–1941)
464:(1929–1939)
452:(1920–1928)
371:27 February
345:27 February
198:newspaper,
190:tactics of
177:Alan Sapper
157:Ray Buckton
60:Afghanistan
992:Categories
436:Leadership
284:Standpoint
261:References
95:pseudonyms
51:Standpoint
817:New Times
678:Dave Cook
636:Idris Cox
529:(1956-59)
509:Fred Peet
161:Bill Keys
138:Newspaper
91:Communist
929:New Left
618:Tom Bell
249:See also
196:Militant
188:entryist
99:pen name
72:feminism
70:such as
638:(1930s)
289:7 April
111:Iranian
877:Splits
632:(1923)
549:Chairs
458:(1929)
317:"Home"
255:Tankie
171:MEP,
123:Greek
115:Iraqi
373:2017
347:2017
291:2016
225:The
175:MP,
121:and
74:and
20:and
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268:^
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419:e
412:t
405:v
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293:.
24:.
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