Michael Chant
Michael Chant is the leader of the Revolutionary Communist Party of Britain (Marxist–Leninist).
Ukraine meeting
Comrades and friends heard stirring calls for solidarity with the anti-fascist fighters of Novorossiya at a well-attended meeting in central London March 2015. Speakers from the Solidarity with the Anti-Fascist Resistance in Ukraine (SARU) movement along with New Communist Party of Britain and Revolutionary Communist Party of Britain (Marxist–Leninist) leaders were as one in their support for the partisans and all the Ukrainian people struggling against the puppet regime in Ukraine.
Alex Gordon from SARU stressed the leading role of the communists in the Novorossiyan militias and David Ayrton stressed the need to build the solidarity movement in Britain to counter the lies of the imperialists and their craven apologists in the labour movement that are being used to justify open British intervention to prop up the Kiev regime.
Michael Chant of the RCPB (ML) spoke about the right of the people of eastern Ukraine to self-determination and NCP leader Andy Brooks warned against the danger of escalation and mission creep following the news that British military advisers were being sent to Ukraine.
Andy Brooks said: “Anti-fascists in Britain and throughout the world who have rallied together to support the resistance in Ukraine are fighting an uphill battle against a mountain of misinformation, lies and confusion that is leading astray even some seasoned left-wingers who should know better.
“To its eternal shame the Labour Representation Committee, which aspires to be the voice of the left within the Labour Party, has positioned itself side-by-side with Anglo-American and Franco-German imperialism in supporting the Ukrainian Nazis and the puppet regime in Kiev.”
All these points, and many more besides, were taken up in the discussion that followed. There were many differing views on how we build the solidarity campaign within the labour and peace movement in Britain but everyone agreed on the need to stand by the Donbas workers defending their people’s republics against fascism and imperialism.
The meeting was chaired by Theo Russell from the NCP London District, which has sponsored a number of New Worker public meetings at Euston’s Cock Tavern over the past few years. Plans for future topics include Greece and the Middle East crisis.[1]
35 years of the RCPB (ML)
Around 60 members and supporters of the Revolutionary Communist Party of Britain (Marxist–Leninist) gathered in Central London March 2014 for a seminar marking 35 years since the party came into being, and paying tribute to the life and work of party founder John Buckle, who died in a plane crash in 1983.
Chaired by Lesley Larkum the seminar was opened by Michael Chant, the RCPB (ML) general secretary, who paid tribute to Buckle, and characterised the RCPB (ML) as “a party of modern communism which can address itself to the problems of the 21st century”. Contributions were made by Graham Buckle, John Buckle’s brother, Chris Coleman and RCPB(ML) members from various parts of the country. The DPR Korea ambassador, Hyon Hak Bong, and Mun Myong Sin of the DPRK ‘s London embassy, delivered a friendship message from the central committee of the Workers Party of Korea, and Theo Russell from the New Communist Party of Britain also delivered greetings on behalf of the party, in which he expressed the hope that the friendly relations between the two parties, which date back to 1994, would continue for many more years to come.[2]
North Korean Solidarity
Korean solidarity campaigners met at the New Communist Party of Britain’s Party Centre in London November 2021 for a seminar to discuss the prospects for peace on the Korean peninsula and the way forward for the solidarity campaign in Britain.
New Communist Party of Britain leader Andy Brooks, who chaired the Friends of Korea event, welcomed everyone to the meeting which was the first public event at the Centre since the lockdowns began in 2020. Most of them had visited Democratic Korea and all were supporters of the Friends of Korea committee that has been campaigning for the peaceful re-unification of the Korean peninsula for over 20 years.
This was stressed by Michael Chant, the secretary of the Committee, who emphasised the importance of taking a stand in support of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s right to exist and choose its own path of development, striving for peace and for the reunification of the Korean peninsula, and, as he said, “supporting the just stands of the DPRK internationally at this crucial time in the face of hostility from the United States and other big powers, including Britain”.
The Co-ordinating Committee of the Friends of Korea is an umbrella organisation which brings together all the major movements active in Korean friendship and solidarity work in Britain today. It includes the New Communist Party of Britain and the Revolutionary Communist Party of Britain (Marxist–Leninist), the Socialist Labour Party and the UK Korean Friendship Association. The Committee is chaired by Andy Brooks and the secretary is Michael Chant. The committee organises meetings throughout the year, which are publicised by the supporting movements and on the Friends of Korea blog.[3]
North Korea London reception
September 2013 Communists and Korean solidarity activists joined diplomats, journalists and business-people at a lunch-time reception at the DPRK embassy that was opened by DPRK ambassador Hyong Hak Bong last week.
The leaders of the New Communist Party of Britain and the Revolutionary Communist Party of Britain (Marxist–Leninist), Andy Brooks and Michael Chant, were there along with veteran London communist Monty Goldman from the Communist Party of Britain , who was jailed for two months for protesting against the Korean War, as well as Daphne Liddle, the joint editor of The New Worker, and Dermot Hudson from the UK Korean Friendship Association.
The event, at the south London headquarters of the RCPB (ML) kicked off with a spirited rendition of the DPRK national anthem and the Song of Kim Il Sung by the violinist Leslie Larkum, who has recently visited Democratic Korea. This was followed by the screening of a documentary covering the recent visit of a RCPB (ML) delegation to Democratic Korea produced by one of their own comrades.
Comrades heard lively eye-witness reports from comrades who took part in the recent 60th anniversary celebration in the DPRK of the Korean people’s victory in the Fatherland Liberation War in July. Michael Chant, Leslie Larkum and Dermot Hudson painted a vivid picture of Democratic Korea which is led by Kim Jong Un and guided by Marxism-Leninism and the Juché Idea and also determined to struggle for reunification and defend its socialist path.
Other friends of Korea, like John McLeod of the Socialist Labour Party and Theo Russell of the New Communist Party of Britain, who have also been to north Korea, joined in a general discussion that ended with an appeal from Hyong Hak Bong for everyone to go to the DPRK, if they can, and see for the new life for the Korean people with their own eyes.[4]
Southall celebrates October Revolution
November 21, 2006:
A HIGHLY successful October Revolution celebration was organised by the Communist Party of Great Britain (Marxist-Leninist) last Sunday in Southall, West London, with speakers from the Revolutionary Communist Party of Britain (Marxist–Leninist), the New Communist Party of Britain and CPGB-ML was attended by around 50 people.
Michael Chant, on behalf of the RCPB-ML, said that the Great October Socialist Revolution had “opened up a path for progressive humanity and made possible the progressive gains of the 20th century. In recent years that path has been blocked, beginning with the death of Stalin and the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Giles Shorter of the CPGB-ML said the consequences of the Bolshevik victory would “continue to unfold long after the treacherous liquidation of socialism in the Land of the Soviets itself has been reversed.”
Theo Russell thanked the CPGB-ML on behalf of the New Communist Party of Britain and for organising the event. He said: “The October Revolution showed for the first time that the workers and peasants are able to take state power and keep it. The success of the Soviet state proved that socialism could exist in one state, refuting Trotsky’s theory on world revolution.”[5]
Farewell to Ann Rogers
New Communist Party of Britain leaders joined other communists, trade unionists and peace activists to pay their last respects to Ann Rogers at her funeral in Ruislip last week. NCP leader Andy Brooks, together with Party Chair Alex Kempshall, and Daphne Liddle, Pat Abrahams and Peter Hendy from the Central Committee, paid tribute to the memory of a leading member of the NCP who was National Organiser and Editor of The New Worker during the turbulent times of the 1980s and 1990s when the very existence of the Party was at stake.
Throughout her life Ann worked tirelessly for peace and socialism in the union movement, CND and the NCP, and this was reflected in the solemn gathering at the Breakspear Crematorium in Middlesex last week. Revolutionary Communist Party of Britain (Marxist–Leninist) comrades Michael Chant and Chris Coleman were there, along with members of the Rogers family and many others who worked alongside Ann in local and national campaigns for peace and socialism.
The ceremony was opened by Kate Hobson from the Humanist Association, who focused on Ann’s life and her contribution to society that spanned the decades. Kate introduced Pat Abrahams and Daphne Liddle, who both spoke about Ann’s life as a communist and her ground-breaking work as Editor of The New Worker. Beryl Pankhurst, a personal friend and fellow Woodcraft Folk member followed on with memories of Ann’s life.[6]
Remembering Karl Marx
Karl Marx was remembered by comrades and friends at the New Communist Party of Britain’s London Centre last March 2007 at a reception to mark the 124th anniversary of the passing of the founder of scientific socialism.
Comrade Jong In Song from the Democratic Korean embassy in London spoke of the contribution Marx made to the world struggle for freedom together with Judith Amanthis of the African Liberation Support Campaign Network ; Prof Mohammed Arif of the British Afro Asian Solidarity Organisation and Ella Rule for Friends of Korea.
Marx’s role in the communist movement was high-lighted by Michael Chant of the Revolutionary Communist Party of Britain (Marxist–Leninist) and Harpal Brar of the Communist Party of Great Britain (Marxist-Leninist) and NCP leader Andy Brooks recalled Marx’s work in London.[7]
Friends of Korea
“The world is full of distorted information about Korea,” Comrade Jong In Song from the Embassy of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea told a north London seminar June 2006.
The seminar was organised by the Friends of Korea coordinating committee and chaired by Harpal Brar with a platform that included Andy Brooks of the New Communist Party of Britain, Michael Chant of the Revolutionary Communist Party of Britain (Marxist–Leninist); Godfrey Kramer of the Communist Party of Great Britain (Marxist-Leninist) and Dermot Hudson from the British Juche Society.
And it took place against a background of rising threats from the United States concerning DPRK plans to test a missile.Comrade Jong continued: “Why are the Americans currently attacking Korea?”he asked.
“Today is the 56th anniversary of the start of the US war against Korea –the Fatherland Liberation War. Why do we still commemorate this year? And why is the western press still hostile to the DPRK?”
Comrade Jong gave a detailed account of the events leading up to the war that began in 1950. This was just five years after the Korean people, led by Kim Il Sung had thrown out the Japanese imperialist occupation forces.[8]