''Britain's Road to Socialism'' is the programme of the

Communist Party of Britain The Communist Party of Britain (CPB) is a communist party in Great Britain which emerged from a dispute between Eurocommunists and Marxist-Leninists in the Communist Party of Great Britain in 1988. It follows Marxist-Leninist theory and s ...

, and is adhered to by the

Young Communist League The Young Communist League (YCL) is the name used by the youth wing of various Communist parties around the world. The name YCL of XXX (name of country) originates from the precedent established by the Communist Youth International. Examples of Y ...

and the editors of the '' Morning Star'' newspaper. It proposes that

socialism Socialism is a left-wing Economic ideology, economic philosophy and Political movement, movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to Private prop ...

can be achieved in Britain by the

working class The working class (or labouring class) comprises those engaged in manual-labour occupations or industrial work, who are remunerated via waged or salaried contracts. Working-class occupations (see also " Designation of workers by collar colo ...

leading various political forces in a popular democratic alliance against monopoly capital, and implementing a left-wing programme of socialist construction. Part of this strategy involves winning the

labour movement The labour movement or labor movement consists of two main wings: the trade union movement (British English) or labor union movement (American English) on the one hand, and the political labour movement on the other. * The trade union movement ...

with a

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...

position, through struggle in the existing democratic bodies of the working class, such as

trades union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ...

s, trades union councils and tenant's associations.

History

The publication of Communist Party programmes in Britain began in the 1920s with the release of ''Class against Class, the General Election Programme of the Communist Party of Great Britain''. This was published in 1929 by the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB), the precursor to the Communist Party of Britain, for the general election of that year in which the party fielded 25 candidates. The subsequent programme, titled ''For Soviet Britain'', was published for the party's 13th Congress in 1935. An unnamed draft programme was issued in 1939 but the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

and its aftermath delayed the publication of an updated programme until the 1950s. ''For Soviet Britain'' was finally superseded in February 1951 when ''The British Road to Socialism'' was published, the original incarnation of today's ''Britain's Road to Socialism''. The first edition of the document received the personal approval of

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secretar ...

prior to publication. The ''British Road'' built on themes already present in the Communist Party's 1949 election programme ''The Socialist Road for Britain'', and Stalin's commentary did not suggest significant diversion from the existing policy. Under its original name, it underwent revisions in 1952, 1958, 1968 and 1977. When the CPGB's leadership abandoned ''The British Road to Socialism'' in 1985, elements in the party that remained loyal to the programme, including the then editorial board of ''The Morning Star'', split to form the Communist Party of Britain in 1988. The re-established party published the 6th edition of the programme in 1989, with a revision in 1992 to take into account the onset of capitalist restoration in Eastern Europe. Three subsequent editions have been produced with further revisions and a change of title to ''Britain's Road to Socialism''. The 7th edition was published in 2001, the 8th in 2011, and the 9th in 2020.

References

External links

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9th edition (2020)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Britain's Road To Socialism 1951 in British politics 1951 in the United Kingdom 1951 documents Communism in the United Kingdom Communist Party of Britain Communist Party of Great Britain Party platforms