Corbyn? There are no major differences between us, says head of Communist Party
THE leader of the Communist Party has boasted that it has ‘no major differences’ in policy with Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour.
Robert Griffiths heaped praise on the party leader, congratulating him on achieving a hard-Left takeover of the party.
The Marxist party leader said Mr Corbyn had made crucial steps towards turning Britain into a Communist society.
His glowing endorsement will cause further disquiet among Labour moderates who are concerned that the party has been taken over by the Left.
Yesterday, Mr Griffiths insisted that there were ‘no major differences’ between the two parties ‘on immediate issues’.
He pointed out that Mr Corbyn appeared to be following one of the Communist Party’s key texts, Britain’s Road to Socialism, which was published in 1951.
It says the first step is a Leftwing takeover of Labour. This is followed by electoral victory and an overhaul of the state pivoted towards Communism.
‘The programme is actually turning out to be a good guide as to how things could turn out,’ Mr Griffiths told the Financial Times.
‘There are plenty who said: “It’s nonsense, give up! The Communist Party is hopelessly out of date.” Well, where are we now?’
He said there were no major differences on ‘immediate issues’, highlighting a shared opposition to Nato and nuclear weapons.
The Communist Party did not field any candidates in the general election last year for the first time since it was founded – and instead urged followers to back Mr Corbyn’s Labour.
There are close links between the parties, given that Andrew Murray – one of Mr Corbyn’s key advisers – was until recently a Communist Party member.
Seumas Milne, Mr Corbyn’s communications director, is also close to the party.
Last week shadow chancellor John McDonnell called Marxism a ‘force for change today’ at a conthat ference celebrating Karl Marx’s 200th birthday.
And the party leader himself spent years writing columns for the Morning Star, the Socialist daily newspaper.
Mr Corbyn is also facing a backlash after boasting about his close ties to a far-Left party in Germany wants to disband NATO. He prompted outrage after tweeting a picture of himself meeting Katja Kipping, leader of Die Linke, which has also backed Russia’s annexation of Crimea.
His tweet said: ‘I was pleased to meet @KatjaKipping from Germany’s @DieLinke party today.
‘We discussed how progressive parties and movements inside and outside the European Union can work together to end austerity and privatisation, and promote international peace.’
Labour MPs and activists pointed out that Die Linke was the new incarnation of the Communist Party that oversaw the brutal Stasi regime in East Germany.
Senior figures have demanded the abolition of Nato in favour of a security alliance with Moscow.
Die Linke is also in direct competition with the Social Democratic Party, which is Labour’s sister party in Germany.
In response to Mr Griffiths’ comments a Labour spokesman said: ‘Labour stands unequivocally for the policies laid out in our manifesto, which were supported by nearly 13 million people – 40 per cent of voters – in last year’s general election.’
‘Following key Socialist text’
OF all the explanations put forward by Remainers for having lost the referendum, the feeblest is that the Brexit camp spent too much on its campaign.
Do they honestly believe the £70,000 that Leave.EU has been found to have overspent put Brexiteers at an unfair advantage?
Leave aside doubts about the impartiality of the Remainer- dominated Electoral Commission, which has fined the campaign a record £70,000 for breaking spending rules, while reporting its chief executive to police.
The fact is that spending by Leavers was completely dwarfed by the massive sums pumped into the other side.
Even before the campaign began, George Osborne sank £9.3million of taxpayers’ money into a blatant propaganda leaflet, sent to every household, designed to scare the pants off anyone tempted by Brexit.
That’s not to mention the wages of battalions of civil servants diverted to stoking Project Fear. Add the expenses of the campaign itself, and Remain was the prince to Leave’s pauper.
No, it wasn’t cash spent on campaigning that persuaded 17.4million voters to ignore those myriad mandarins, politicians, academics, tame bankers and businessmen – all doubtless eager for gongs – wheeled out to wave the European flag.
It was exasperation with a meddling, statist Brussels, faith in Britain’s greatness and a burning desire to take back control of our borders, trade, money and laws. DON’T take the Mail’s word for it that Corbynism is barely distinguishable from Communism. Listen to the leader of the Communist Party, who says there are ‘no major differences’ between the two. Isn’t it time the Labour leader and his hard- Left stormtroopers started campaigning under their true colours?