The North East branch of the RCG was set up in the summer of 2005. Since then we have been a consistent and vocal anti-racist and anti-imperialist presence on the streets and in the communities of Newcastle and Durham. In the winter of 2005/2006 we played a key role in the establishment of Tyneside Community Action for Refugees (TCAR), which brings together refugees, other migrants and local people in organised political opposition to the state racism of deportation, detention and forced destitution of asylum seekers. In our anti-fascist work we have actively opposed the efforts of others to turn anti-fascism into a vote-grabber for the Labour Party, which itself is and always has been a racist party, and when the Labour government's police have defended the National Front as they marched through Newcastle for the past four years. We have organised regular street actions and public meetings in solidarity with the anti-imperialist movements of the Middle East, exposing the Labour government's role and targetting specific British companies which stand to profit from the ongoing plunder and occupation, such as Royal Dutch Shell in Iraq and Marks and Spencer in Palestine. We have built support for socialist Cuba and revolutionary Venezuela, and have held street meetings, talks, film showings, forums and cultural events, and have raised thousands of pounds towards solidarity brigades to Cuba.

The Revolutionary Communist Group fights for a society which produces for people's needs, not just profit -- that is a socialist society.

Capitalist society is based on the exploitation of the working class by the ruling class, for profit. Internationally, imperialism divides the world into oppressed and oppressor nations: the majority lives in poverty, while a tiny minority squanders unprecedented wealth. By restricting production worldwide to the narrow limits of profit-making, the basic needs of the majority of humanity cannot be fulfilled.

Poverty in Britain is more than double what it was in 1979. Millions of people are unable to afford even basic necessities such as warm clothing, nutritious food or decent furniture. Increasing numbers of people work in service sector jobs where insecure temporary and part time positions are the norm, and workers are not afforded even basic rights such as paid sick leave or contracts. Many more are forced by racist immigration laws to work illegally in areas such as agriculture, in appalling conditions and often for as little at £ 2 a day.
  The RCG supports the struggle of the working class to defend and improve its living standards.

War is an inevitable byproduct of imperialism. All over the world, from Iraq to Palestine to Sudan, people's lives are being torn apart as the imperialist powers compete for a share of the exploitation.
 The RCG opposes all imperialist wars and occupations, and actively defends the right of oppressed peoples to resist.

Racist attacks in Britain are on the increase. The police do nothing to defend black people, asylum seekers, Muslims and others against attack, and instead blame them for crime. At the same time, Britain's racist immigration laws are used to harass, detain and deport. We fight against racism and fascism in all its forms.
 The RCG supports people's right to organise and defend themselves against racist attack. We oppose all immigration laws.

Britain is an imperialist country. Ireland is Britain's oldest colony and the nationalist working class of the Six Counties are subject to military occupation and brutal repression.
  The RCG supports the struggle of the Irish people for self-determination and calls for the immediate withdrawal of British troops.

Along with the reintroduction of shoot-to-kill policies, the use of detention without trial, attacks on the right to protest, and ASBOs, a host of other repressive measures have been brought in by the British state in recent years under cover of the so-called 'War on Terror'. These include the Terrorism Act 2000, the Anti-Terrorism Crime and Security Act 2001 and the Prevention of Terrorism Act 2005.
 The RCG opposes all such attacks on our civil liberties and democratic rights.

The RCG supports socialist Cuba and condemns the illegal US blockade. Today Cuba carries the banner of socialism in a world dominated by a vicious and rapacious imperialist system. It has demonstrated what socialism can bring to people even in a country under siege.
 We fight actively in defence of the Cuban revolution.

In countries such as Cuba, Venezuela, Bolivia and Nepal imperialism is being forced back and alternatives are being struggled for.
 The RCG supports all those struggling for a society organised not for profits but to meet people's needs - in short, a socialist society.

The dual exploitation of women through domestic and wage slavery is absolutely central to capitalism. Women are forced into low-paid, casualised jobs, forming a reserve army of labour at the same time as performing essential domestic work for little or no reward.
 The RCG supports the fight against women's oppression.

In its drive for profits imperialism has no regard for the destruction it wreaks on the environment. Only socialism can produce with consideration for the environment.
 The RCG supports the struggle to defend the environment.

As the crisis of imperialism deepens more and more areas of life are being converted into new sources for profit, such as education and health care in Britain and in oppressed nations of Africa and Latin America even water.
  The RCG defends the right of every human being to the basic necessities of life, and support struggles against privatisation.

Britain is a major imperialist power, with investments all over the world exploiting the labour of the people who live there so that a privileged few can live in luxury. Living in a heartland of imperialism, 'in the belly of the beast', we have a particular responsibility to fight back.

Imperialism will never be defeated by the Labour Party and the trade unions, precisely because they represent a parasitic layer of the British working class which has been bought off with crumbs from the imperialist table. Movements such as Stop the War and Respect are completely tied to the Labour Party through its left wing. There is no difference between 'New' and 'Old' Labour, it has always been a racist and imperialist party. Parliamentary democracy is a farce and does not reflect the interests of the majority of people in Britain, many of whom don't vote. Neither will imperialism be brought down by scattered and isolated individuals. The only thing which will pose a challenge from within Britain is people organising together, in solidarity with the most oppressed people of the world.

The defence of the working class and oppressed can only come from the working class organising democratically and independently in its own interests, in Britain and internationally.
  The Revolutionary Communist Group stands for the rebirth of a socialist movement internationally to destroy capitalism and imperialism and replace them with a socialist society, organised to defend the interests of the working class and the oppressed.

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Contact Us FRFI North East email: frfinortheast@googlemail.com 0785 834 6276