Gerry Sables to stand in Barnstaple by-election

Gerrard Sables explains why North Devon branch of the Communist Party is standing in a by-election

When I stood this year in the general election for the North Devon constituency I believed myself to be the very first communist to stand in the South West peninsula. I was wrong. Edwin "Tappy" Tapscott stood in February 1950 for the Totnes constituency. Involved in that campaign were two comrades I had the privilege of meeting in their later years, Ernie Benson author of To Struggle is to Live and the Pensioners leader and author of No Thanks to Lloyd George Dave Goodman. Suffice it to say I was probably the second communist to stand in the South West peninsula.

A Party of the Unemployed?

The Left has a problem. If one more "socialist" appears on TV complaining about the plight of people on benefits, I might do something silly.

Now before I get torn to pieces and denounced as a "reformist, revisionist, anti worker, naive, patronising, never been there, doesn't understand the problem class traitor" let me explain.

Campaign against the 2010 budget

The CPB has launched a campaign against a budget so see-through it may as well be signed by big business, city speculators and the bond markets. Download the campaign leaflet here:

The Not So Independent "Office for Budget Responsibility"

First the Bank of England was taken out of democratic control. Now the government's budget has followed.

If it were not bad enough that the "independent" (listen to how many times the Tories say it) OBR is full of ex-treasury staff and political advisors; they are all appointed by the government anyway. That's almost as stupid as if Israel were to carry out the investigation into the boarding of . . . What? They are?

Perhaps the most disturbing element of the creation if this department, no matter how it s staffed, is the removal of governmental control over its own affairs. This office is the ultimate form of monopoly capital having undue influence over democratic institutions. Big business now not only decides what interest rates it wants to pay, it can now force (and lets be honest, the Tories will go along with whatever big business tells them) the democratically elected government of this country, to cut whatever it deems best for business.

Palestinian Solidarity in Plymouth

About a hundred people marched through Plymouth today (twice actually) to show support for the people of Gaza and to demonstrate against both the blockade and recent boarding of the aid convoy. Despite the usual heckles from the masses - shouts of "just bomb them" were heard - the rally was well received. To get involved visit: www.plymouthpsc.org.uk

One Man's Freedom Fighter. . . (part one)

It often takes a crisis to focus the mind. Until now I had paid little attention to the Israel - Palestine question, dismissing it as a religious struggle, a humanitarian crisis, and something unlikely to be solved while people still believe in god, or that they have a god given right to anything. Perhaps I haven't changed my mind, but I thought it was worthwhile trying to understand the history of the problem.

I am not going to start with scripture, there is little point. Things only start to become relevant after the Great War. Between 1917-1948 the territory was administered by the British Mandate for Palestine. The mandate declared: