40 years of 'The Militant' and the socialist

Celebrating 40 years of our newspaper

Members old and new from all over the East Midlands gathered in Nottingham on the 23rd October to celebrate 40 years of our newspaper.

Clare Doyle spoke of the time when, as a student, she was asked for a contribution to the first ever print run of ‘The Militant’. In those days, it was printed on a single sheet, and had to be produced clandestinely, but, during the turbulent times of the seventies, it soon gathered momentum and was produced in weekly form. Then as now, it was wholly dependent on contributions from ordinary workers.

There were examples of old newspapers around the room, and their content seemed remarkably familiar. Heather, a headteacher from Leicester, reminded us that our demands - for a fair minimum wage, for nationalisation of big business and making a stand to protect the rights of workers - have not changed.

Speakers talked about the great struggles in which we acted in the past - the days of the Liverpool 47, when mass demonstrations were organised against Thatcher’s cuts and how new council houses were built by the Militant-run council. We were also reminded about the key role our party had to play in finally bringing down Thatcher, with the anti-poll tax demonstration in 1990 and the mass campaign of non-payment, which we organised.

However, since the Tories were kicked out, New Labour has shown itself to be every bit as ruthless in pandering to the concerns of big business rather than being truly representative of ordinary people. Thatcher would have been proud of the privatisation of pubic services that Blair is now pushing through.

However, the meeting was not merely a nostalgic trip down memory lane. New members as young as 16 showed an interest in coming to the ISR rally in London in November, and we were reminded about the future battles that lie ahead - in defending the 100,000 civil service jobs threatened by Blair, for example.

The rally was summed up by looking forward to the next forty years. Hopefully this will see a new mass workers’ party prepared to take on the agenda of big business. To achieve this, we need to build on past successes and encourage self-confidence in people, so that they are prepared to take on ruthless employers. Through future struggles will come the energy needed to establish a society where everyone is valued equally, with a nationalised economy that is run democratically. We look forward to building a socialist future.

A magnificent £306 was raised towards our fighting fund appeal.