It is a well-known fact that accident can play a considerable role in both history and the lives of individuals. In the course of my life I have observed many accidents and extraordinary coincidences. But I have never experienced such a unique and unforeseeable concatenation of circumstances as that which I am about to relate here.

Ten years ago today comrade Phil Mitchinson died tragically at the age of 38. He was a leading cadre of the Socialist Appeal in Britain and also of the International Marxist Tendency. He played a key role in building up the forces of the Socialist Appeal. We republish here an article by Rob Sewell written one year after his death,  Phil Mitchinson: “We will finish what he began”. We are also highlighting one of his major articles, Marxism and direct action, which is the best way of honouring the comrade and showing his calibre as a leading Marxist cadre.

News of the death of comrade Jean Lievens came as a most shocking and unwelcome surprise to all of us who knew him. Jean was always so full of life that to speak of his death seems to be unthinkable. But at the tragically early age of 59 he has been suddenly taken from us after a short fight against a serious illness.

We have just received the sad news of the death of Terry Fields, a Militant supporter and Labour MP for Liverpool Broadgreen (1983 -92). He died over the weekend after a long struggle with cancer. Terry is remembered by all the comrades who knew him as a true class fighter and a man who stuck to his socialist principles throughout.

Much has changed since this document was first produced, and we have continually refined and updated our perspectives and analysis in subsequent books and articles.  However, the historical value of this document, especially those parts concerning the history of the internationals, the rise of proletarian Bonapartism, and the post-WWII period retain their full force and value.

"I would like through the pages of the journal to express my best wishes to all the comrades. The ideas you represent today have a very long history."

At 10.45am on August 21, Jimmy Deane died of pneumonia after a long illness in a Liverpool nursing home. He was one of the last in the generation of pre-war Trotskyists, who together with Ted Grant, fought to keep alive the flame of genuine Trotskyism under the most difficult circumstances.

This book by Ted Grant is a unique contribution to the history of British Trotskyism. It begins with the debate on Trotskyism in the British Communist Party in 1924 and ends with the break-up of the Revolutionary Communist Party in 1949 and the beginning of more than thirty years of work within the Labour Party. Ted Grant was the founder and political leader of the “Militant Tendency”, which haunted the Labour leadership, and was eventually expelled along with the Militant editorial board in 1983. A postscript by Rob Sewell, who was the national organiser for the Militant throughout the 1980s, brings this unique history up to date.