 Midlands Communists take to the streets!
Derby Communists (both CP and YCL) distributed 500 of a locally designed leaflet to new students at Derby University and Derby College. It offered 5 good reasons why you should be a Communist as well as inviting them to a ‘Big Red Welcome” - a discussion on this, on student life, as well as activity in the town. The initiative was met with great interest, and many promises were made to get involved. Derby Communists followed this up the next day with a Saturday street stall in the town centre, selling many CP and YCL pamphlets, Morning Stars, TShirts and even a Communist flag! The stall was continuously surrounded by people noticeably many in their teens and early twenties, all eager, interested to talk and very animated. Derby Communists have also advertised a “tell me more” text service, for people with questions about Communism. Two applications for membership came in on the Monday.
A mass of red Communist Party flags were cheered by the sunny May Day Bank Holiday rally and demonstration in Chesterfield, organised by the local Trades Council. 1,000 trade unionists heard the main speakers, Andrew Murray, National Chair, Stop The War Coalition; Joginder Bains, Executive, Indian Workers Association; Bill Greenshields, President, National Union of Teachers. By sheer coincidence all these happened to be Communists! But, of course, they all were there in their roles as leading figures in the mass movements they represented. The Communist Party had a substantial turnout, with the Midlands Party calling for a mobilisation evident in comrades from Chesterfield, Birmingham, Derby and Nottinghamshire. Although, the Leeds and even Edinburgh branches came too. A solid delegation of IWA and CPB comrades marched with the Party’s flags, although Leicester’s own May Day event saw a much larger turnout of the IWA and the local Communist Party there. Andrew, who shortly afterward was elected a member of the Communist Party Executive, reminded the crowd of the ongoing slaughter in Iraq and Afghanistan and restated the coalition's call for an immediate withdrawal of troops. Bill Greenshields, also an EC member and now also the Midlands Party Chair, spoke about the recent national teachers' strike against below-inflation pay increases, stressing that this was important to every public-sector worker, and to the campaign for good local state schools. Joginder Bains made a devastating attach on New Labour and its anti working class policies, called for international solidarity and condemned the local ruling Lib Dem council for making the Derbyshire Unemployed Workers' Centre "homeless" for the first time in its history by taking away its premises. She went on to highlight the campaigns of the IWA, in particular the importance of immigration rights and married women. There was musical entertainment and many political and market stalls. The Midlands CP/YCL stall did a roaring trade, especially with young people, perhaps only surpassed by the Birmingham Party branch second-hand book stall, which alone took almost £300 in sales over the May Day weekend. Not forgetting the impressively attractive and engaging Morning Star display which provoked lively discussion
on Derbyshire Communists’ stall.
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