First Issued: November 9, 1975
Transcription, Editing and Markup: Sam Richards and Paul Saba
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1. The British imperialist ruling class is in greater and greater crisis. The British working class is rising in militancy and revolutionary spirit. The principal task in Britain today is to build the Marxist-Leninist Communist Party. Guided by Marxism-Leninism this Party will lead the British working class to overthrow the bourgeoisie in socialist revolution and establish the dictatorship of the proletariat.
2. The Marxist-Leninist Communist Party will be built in the struggle to apply the universal truth of Marxism-Leninism to the concrete practice of the British revolution.
3. The key to this task is to handle correctly the contradictions within the Marxist-Leninist movement in Britain. The essential thing is to start from the desire for unity behind correct principles. The serious study of Marxism-Leninism and the correct practice of the mass line are also very important.
4. Ideological and political unity behind correct lines and policies will not be won passively, but must be won through struggle, through active ideological struggle against the bourgeois and petty bourgeois ideas which are the prevailing ideas in capitalist society.
5. Contradictions must be handled by bold but not sectarian criticism and self-criticism. The development of comradely links must be assisted by means of exchange of views and comradely assistance.
In the past we have made certain errors of liberalism and sectarianism on this question. As one of a number of Marxist-Leninist organisations in Britain we now state the following policy, in order to take Party building as the principal task in Britain today; a task that must be achieved primarily through active ideological struggle.
1. To fight to win recognition and conviction in relations with other Marxist-Leninist organisations that Party-building and the development of the programme are the two most important tasks facing Marxist-Leninists in this country.
2. To oppose liberalism and to draw firm and definite lines of demarcation in order to develop the struggle for unity behind correct principles. To combat errors of left and right opportunism through active ideological struggle.
3. To distinguish between friends and enemies of the working class. To distinguish between opportunists, and those who have made opportunist errors but who can still correct them through struggle.
4. To handle contradictions with other Marxist-Leninists organisations in Britain by criticism and self-criticism. To set an example in bold objective self-criticism.
5. In assessing the work of other organisations to distinguish between achievements and shortcomings and not to overstate or understate either. To combat the sectarianism of overestimating our own strengths and underestimating those of other organisations, and of underestimating our own weaknesses and over-estimating those of others. We must assess the strengths of organisations in terms of the correctness of the lines, policies and tactics. We must not think that numbers in themselves are a sign of political strength.
6. To follow as long as necessary in the CFB the principle of self-reliance but not self-sufficiency in Party-building.
7. To exchange views and experience with other Marxist-Leninist organisations and be ready to learn from what is correct in their line and practice.
8. To give comradely assistance for the sake of the proletariat and the future proletarian Party.
9. To aim for ideological and political unity on the basis of ideological and political struggle.
10. To take organisational steps appropriate to the degree of ideological and political unity that has been won.