Revolutionary Communist Tendency

The Revolutionary Communist Tendency was a faction that formed from a split in the Revolutionary Communist Group in 1978. It later changed its name to the Revolutionary Communist Party in 1981/2.

From the beginning RCT members used 'party names' in addition to their own names. Thus Frank Richards and Mike Freeman were cover names for Frank Furedi and Michael Fitzpatrick. the RCT also created a number of front groups, a pattern the RCP and later the LM Network would continue. thus in 1977 and 1978 they had already formed the Smash the Prevention of Terrorism Act Campaign and Workers Against Racism, the latter of which carried on through the name change to the RCP. the former was replaced by the Irish Freedom Movement

Cover of Ireland's Victory Means Britain's Defeat: the Role of the Labour Movement (Revolutionary communist Pamphlets) Revolutionary Communist Tendency 1980 Junius Publications Ltd 24p.

Formation

One early observer (in an article published in the January 1978 edition of Marxism Today) noted that at that stage the RCT were almost indistinguishable from the RCG from whihc they had split:

In recent months the RCG has not only suffered a breakaway—the Revolutionary Communist Tendency, or RCT—but also witnessed a further split within the breakaway—the Committee for a Communist Programme, or CCP. The rationale behind the splits does not seem to lie in any major disagreement on political orientation, but only over how sectarian the organisation should be towards other left groups, particularly the CPGB. For the purposes of this article, therefore, the three groups are treated as one. This is not unfair, for the three organisations share a common perspective on nearly all issues; for instance, both the RCG and the RCT publish a journal on Ireland called Hands off Ireland and the contents of the first issues of both journals are very nearly identical, the same signed articles appearing in both.

This similarity did continue for some time, but the RCP did diverge in marked respects over the years. We can note that the similarity of the bulletins in Ireland was no doubt partly a product of establishing ownership of the territory. It can also be noted that the RCT series 'Revolutionary communist Papers' had the identical title to the earlier series published by the RCG from around 1975.

Activities

Bring the War to Britain Event

TUC Hands off Ireland. Smash the Prevention of Terrorism Act Campaign. Revolutionary Communist Pamphlets No.8. Junius Publications Ltd, March 1981.

According to former RCP member James Heartfield, the secretary of Tameside trades council at the time Dave Hallsworth was at some point a member of the RCP (though it was still the RCT at the time and it is not clear if Hallsworth joined the RCP before or after the event)

Dave was secretary of the Tameside trades council at this time, committing it to a policy of supporting Irish freedom and a conference to discuss the Northern Ireland troubles. As a result, the TUC sent its future general secretary John Monks to disband the council.

Publications

The RCT created several strands of publication, one of which was a newspaper, described as early as 1979 as the 'review' of the RCT and titled The next step (without capitalisation). The next step would remain in publication through the following years as the paper (for some time a weekly paper) of the RCP. They also published two series of pamphlets, one of which was titled 'Revolutionary Communist Papers' and was described as their 'theoretical journal'. The RCT apparently also published a bulletin called Hands Off Ireland.

The list below is compiled from a variety of sources.

Back cover of Ireland's Victory Means Britain's Defeat: the Role of the Labour Movement (Revolutionary communist Pamphlets) Revolutionary Communist Tendency 1980 Junius Publications Ltd 24p.

Inside back cover of Ireland's Victory Means Britain's Defeat: the Role of the Labour Movement (Revolutionary communist Pamphlets) Revolutionary Communist Tendency 1980 Junius Publications Ltd 24p.

Revolutionary Communist Papers

• The formation of the Revolutionary Communist Tendency: revolutionary organisation and strategy; internationalism and Stalinism, Revolutionary Communist Papers No. 1: March 1977, London: Junius Publications.
• Special issue on Ireland: British imperialism in Ireland and anti-imperialism in Britain, Revolutionary Communist Papers No. 2: 1978, London: Junius Publications.
• The Recession: Capitalist Offensive and the Working class - a Marxist analysis of the crisis and reformism in the labour movement, Revolutionary Communist Papers No. 3: 1978, London: Junius Publications.
• Revisionism, Imperialism and the State: A critique of the revisionist dogma of State Monopoly Capitalism, Revolutionary Communist Papers No. 4: 1979, London: Junius Publications.
• Frank Richards, Alan Harding, Andre Robinson, Peter Wilson, Charles Longford THE BATTLE FOR AFRICA: Showdown in Zimbabwe: The Rape of Zaire: The Scramble for Africa Revolutionary Communist Papers No. 5: 1979 Junius Publications Ltd 48 p.
• Khomeini's Capitalism: The Imperialists close In, Revolutionary Communist Papers No. 6: 1980, London: Junius Publications.
• No. 7
• No. 8 1981

Revolutionary Communist Pamphlets

• No. 1
• Frank Richards Under a national flag fascism, racism, and the labour movement 2d ed. with new afterword. Published 1978 by Revolutionary Communist Tendency Association in London Revolutionary Communist pamphlets ;, no. 2, 28 p. ;
• Mike Freeman and Kate Marshall, Who needs the Labour Party? Sep 1978 Revolutionary Communist Pamphlets No.3.
• Eden, Fran & Green, Kevin. Racial Oppression : How to Fight It. Revolutionary Communist Pamphlets, No.4. Junius Publications, London 1979, 1st edition., 1979. Pamphlet. Octavo. 26 pages.
• No 5.
• Higher Education : Fight the Cuts Defend Overseas Students, Revolutionary Communist Pamphlets, No.6. Junius Publications, London 1979, 1st edition., 1979. Pamphlet. Octavo. 12 pages.
• Ireland's Victory Means Britain's Defeat: the Role of the Labour Movement (Revolutionary communist pamphlets) Revolutionary Communist Tendency Association 1980 Junius Publications Ltd 24p.
• TUC Hands off Ireland. Smash the Prevention of Terrorism Act Campaign. Revolutionary Communist Pamphlets No.8. Junius Publications Ltd, March 1981., 1981. Pamphlet. 17 pages.
• Our Flag Stays Red. East London Workers Against Racism. Revolutionary Communist Pamphlets, No.9. Junius Publications, London 1981, 1st edition., 1981. Pamphlet. 15 pages. illustrated.
• Roberts, Pat & Drury, Christina. Police out of Brixton! South London Workers Against Racism. Revolutionary Communist Pamphlets No.10. Junius Publications, London, 1981., 1981. Booklet. 17 pages, photo illus. Original photo illus.card covers.
• Landa, Inez & Simons, Helen. Ghost Town. Coventry Workers Against Racism. Revolutionary Communist Pamphlets, No.11. Junius Publications, London, 1981. Pamphlet. 13 pages, illustrated.
• Poland's black December /​ [Revolutionary Communist Party]. Revolutionary Communist Party (Great Britain) London (BCM, JPLTD, WC1N 3XX) : Junius, c1982. 27 p. : ill. ; 22cm. Revolutionary Communist pamphlets ; no.12
• Malvinas Are Argentina's (Revolutionary Communist pamphlets No. 13) [Paperback] Revolutionary Communist Party (Author) Paperback: 32 pages Junius (1982)

Resources

• Gerry Leversha Some Reflections on the 'Revolutionary Communist Group', Marxism Today, January 1978.
• John Sullivan, As Soon As This Pub Closes ..., 1986 RCP.