23 February 2021

Revision to the Draft Programme (Freedom)

Agreed at a joint aggregate of CPGB and LPM members on January 23 2021. Published in Weekly Worker 1332.

 

Old version of section 3.1.2. (Freedom of information)

Knowledge is power. The British bourgeois state has always shrouded its affairs in secrecy. Real class interests and imperialist plans and ambitions are thus kept from the eyes of the working class. Simultaneously there is a close relationship between the state and the owners and controllers of the mass media. The press, radio, TV and the internet are highly monopolised and not only serve as a means of generating huge profits, but constantly reinforce bourgeois values. The working class needs openness in state, business, scientific and cultural matters, not least as a preparation for running its own state.

Communists therefore demand:

  • Abolish the 30-year rule and all other forms of secrecy. Public access to all state files, cabinet
    papers, diplomatic agreements, etc.
  • Democratise the state-sponsored mass media. The controllers and top management of the
    BBC should be elected and recallable. For the free communication of ideas. End all forms of
    censorship, legislative, commercial and institutional.
  • Abolish copyright laws and other so-called intellectual property rights.
    Unrestricted freedom of the internet should be considered an integral part of freedom of
    information.

New version of section 3.1.2. (Freedom)

The interests of the working class require the open struggle of ideas and the ability to freely
organise.

Therefore communists demand:

  • Unrestricted freedom of speech, publication, conscience, association and assembly.
  • An end to state bans and censorship. No more laws against 'hate speech', which will
    inevitably be turned against the workers movement and the left.
  • No bans on controversial organisations and individuals in civil society institutions
    such as universities and student unions. Bigoted and reactionary viewpoints must be
    fought in the open, not via bureaucratic no-platform, safeguarding or safe spaces
    policies.
  • Oppose state secrets. Demand free access to all state files, cabinet papers, diplomatic
    agreements, etc.
  • Abolish copyright laws, patents and other so-called intellectual property rights.
  • Socialisation of internet service providers, public cloud infrastructure and other
    natural monopolies in communications. An end to the corruption of advertising-
    funded media.

 

Note: The text as well as the other immediate demands are available here

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