The YCL is excited to announce that Harry Pollitt School is BACK for 2025!
Named after the legendary Communist Party leader, our weekend school for communists, trade union militants, students, and workers will be an opportunity to learn, socialise, exchange views, and help build the struggle for socialism in Britain!
Harry Pollitt School is open to anyone interested in Communist politics, so you don’t have to be a member of the YCL or Communist Party to join. The school carries on the Communist dedication to strengthening Britain’s labour movement through the political education we need for real, on-the-ground organising.
Tickets now on sale!
Book your ticket to the biggest Marxist-Leninist educational event in the country now!
This year’s Harry Pollitt School will be on the weekend of the 19-20 July, at the Irish World Heritage Centre, 1 Irish Town Way, Cheetham Hill, Manchester, M8 0AE.
You can find the full timetable and activities below. The school is set to feature talks, workshops, and panel discussions with communist speakers from Britain and all around the world, as well as leading trade unionists, community organisers, communist thinkers, and more.
Comrades travelling from Scotland, Wales, or further afield are encouraged to make their own transport arrangements as soon as possible, but the venue is easily reachable from the centre of Manchester by car, tram, or bus.
This year’s Harry Pollitt School is looking to be bigger, better, and more militant than ever, so make sure you join us for another great weekend of revolutionary education and action!
Places are limited, so book your tickets now!
Tickets are now on sale for £15 (unwaged), £25 (waged), or £30 (solidarity).
We have tried to make the School as cheap as possible but please get in contact if the cost looks like an issue.
The full timetable is now available below.
Contact marxisteducation@ycl.org.uk for more information.
Saturday 19th July
1. The Life of Harry Pollitt: “Power in the Hands of Lads Like Me”
Oliver Snelling, YCL London
The school opens with a talk about the life of Harry Pollitt, working-class militant from Droylsden just outside Manchester and one of the greatest communist leaders this country has ever known, serving as General Secretary of the Communist Party of Great Britain during World War II.
2. What Is the “Material” of Marx’s Materialism?
Dr. Samuel Mercer, Associate Editor of Rethinking Marxism and Lecturer at Liverpool Hope University
This session on Marxist philosophy seeks to break down Marx’s historical materialism, exploring how Marxist materialism compares with other materialist disciplines.
Eben Dombay Williams, YCL Education Officer
This talk provides a brief introduction to the communist worldview of Marxism-Leninism, including philosophy, politics, and economics. This will be followed by the launch of the Young Communist League’s new Marxist-Leninist theory handbook: Back to Basics, which includes 28 short articles on Marxist-Leninist fundamentals.
4. Why Do Communists Call for a United Front?
Alex Gordon, CPB Industrial Organizer and President of the RMT
What is a “united front” compared with popular fronts and other kinds of alliances? Who do they involve and what are the conditions? Alex Gordon, President of the RMT, explores the history of this tactic and its relevance in Britain today.
5. Communist Ecology: Environmental Policies in Socialist States
Carlos Martinez, Friends of Socialist China and Author of the East Is Still Red
Carlos Martinez looks at the history of socialist states and their approach to environmental issues, exploring the contradictions and solutions of communist ecology during socialist construction in countries like the USSR and China.
6. Socialist Construction in the North of Korea: Myths and Reality
Keith Bennett, Friends of Socialist China
Keith Bennett gives a report back from his recent trip to the DPRK and gives an introduction to life in socialist Korea to counter anti-communist myths and misconceptions about the country.
7. The Chinese Revolution and Socialism with Chinese Characteristics
Dr. Jenny Clegg, Author of China’s Global Strategy: Towards a Multipolar World
In this talk, Dr. Jenny Clegg looks at the history of the People’s Republic of China since Mao’s revolution, exploring the concept of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics and looking at the state of Chinese socialism today.
8. Lessons of Struggle: Communist Victories in Sri Lanka
People’s Liberation Front of Sri Lanka (JVP)
In the 2024 Sri Lankan elections, the JVP-led NPP alliance won a supermajority in the country. In this session, comrades from Sri Lanka will answer questions of what they have learned during this period, including the relationship between parliamentary and armed struggle, and how Sri Lankan life has changed since the election.
9. A.L. Morton: Communist Historian and English Patriot
James Crossley, CPB History Group Convenor and Author of A.L. Morton and the Radical Tradition
James Crossley gives an overview of the life of communist historian A. L. Morton, author of a People’s History of England, and explores what communists can learn from him today.
10. Communists in Trade Unions (Panel)
Gawain Little, General Secretary of the GFTU
Micaela Tracey-Ramos, YCL Industrial Officer and Unison NEC
Nick Troy, National Chair of Unite Hospitality
In this panel,, communists in the trade union movement explore the problems facing trade unions today, their role and limitations, and the specific role communists have to play to escalate the workers’ struggle in Britain.
11. Communists in Communities (Workshop)
Stephanie Martin, CPB Glasgow Branch Secretary
Drawing from experiences in the Wyndford Residents Union in Glasgow, Stephanie Martin leads a workshop on commmunity organising to give participants the tools to build power where workers live.
Sunday 20th July
1. The Rise of Africa: Socialist History and Revolutionary Future
Cole Thomson, YCL Scotland Education Officer
Roger McKenzie, Morning Star International Editor and Author of the Rebirth of the African Phoenix
In this joint session, Roger McKenzie and Cole Thomson look at the socialist history of countries like Ethiopia, the rise of Africa today including recent anti-colonial uprisings in the Sahel states, and the prospects for revolution in Africa in the 21st century.
2. Hands Off the Middle East! (Panel)
Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP)
Union of Lebanese Democratic Youth (ULDY)
Syrian Democratic Youth Union (SDYU)
Seven months after the US-backed overthrow of the Asaad government in Syria, this panel of young communists from across the Middle East looks at the prospects for working-class resistance in the region.
Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP)
Cathal Ó Gaillin, YCL Aberdeen and GAA Palestine
Nearly two years since the escalation of the Palestinian resistance which has seen solidarity actions from all across the world, comrades from Palestine and Britain discuss the situation today and what we can do to support the inevitable: a free Palestine and a population returned to its land.
4. The Life and Legacy of Alan Bush: Britain’s Communist Composer
Ben Lunn, Secretary of the Workers’ Music Association
Born in 1900, Alan Bush is arguably the leading communist composer in Britain’s history. Joining the Communist Party of Great Britain in 1935, he used multiple ways of working – either campaigning, writings, or in the very pieces he composed – to not only connect the arts to the political struggle, but to use his craft as a force for good for the working classes of Britain and the world.
5. Marxist Economics: Profit, Productive Labour, and a Brief History of Capitalism
Paul Cockshott, Marxist Economist and Author of Towards a New Socialism
Celebrated Marxist economist Paul Cockshott gives a talk on Marxist economics, looking at the rate of profit, the difference between productive and unproductive labour, and a short history of capitalism through its different epochs.
6. The Communist Party in Britain: A Legacy of Struggle
John Foster, Marxist Historian and Author of Class Struggle and the Industrial Revolution
Marxist thinker John Foster looks at the lives of Andrew Rothstein, a close comrade of Lenin, and Robin Page Arnot, two founding members of both the Communist Party of Great Britain and the Communist Party of Britain 70 years later, as well as leaders in the fight against Eurocommunist revisionism and the liquidation of the CPGB in the late 20th Century.
7. Marxism-Leninism and the Liberation of Women
YCL Women’s Commission
In this session, the YCL’s Women’s Commission looks at a Marxist-Leninist approach to women’s liberation, and how we can avoid the pitfalls of liberal feminist activism to build a united movement rooted in class.
8. Our History Workshop: Archiving the YCL
Benjamin Perry, YCL West/North Yorkshire Branch Secretary
Benjamin Perry gives a workshop on running a historical archive and best research practices, looking at artifacts and photographs from the YCL’s history
9. The Fight against Fascism in Germany: A Marxist-Leninist Approach
Free German Youth (FDJ)
In this talk, a member from the Free German Youth discusses lessons from the struggle against fascism in Germany, exploring effective and ineffective strategies and the difference between liberal and Marxist anti-fascism.
10. Class Politics or Identity Politics? (Panel)
Dan Evans, Author of A Nation of Shopkeepers: The Unstoppable Rise of the Petite Bourgeoisie
Matt Flamenco, YCL Industrial Officer
In this panel, author Dan Evans joins YCL Industrial Officer Matt Flamenco to discuss class in Britain today, the harm which identity politics have done to the workers’ movement, and the need for a class-based response.
The weekend will also include a Cuban film screening, social, and fundraiser for the Cuba Solidarity Campaign, as well as walking tours of of Manchester’s revolutionary history.
