HYSTERICAL attacks on Labour over accusations of anti-semitism and a renewed drive to force the party to back staying in the EU show the Establishment remains terrified of a Corbyn-led government, the Communist Party’s political committee heard last night.

Labour’s decision on Tuesday to call for a second referendum if faced with a Tory Brexit on no-deal or bad-deal terms and to campaign for Remain in such a vote will undermine the party’s credibility with working-class voters, the committee warned.

But it pointed out that Labour is still calling for a general election and committed to negotiate Brexit — and that the cause of the Labour leader’s retreat was the dominance of pro-EU narratives among Labour members and the trade union movement. Communists should commit to “the long haul” in fighting to build a clearer understanding of the nature of the EU throughout the unions and the party welcomes a forthcoming gathering of pro-Leave left forces to plan that strategy at London’s Soas on Saturday July 27.

The political committee highlighted the weaponisation of the Civil Service and the BBC via mendacious attack shows like Panorama’s anti-semitism hatchet job, noting that the anti-democratic character of the British state was growing clearer. The Communist Party should use these attacks to raise the questions of democracy and the state throughout the movement through public meetings and in day to day campaigning to develop consciousness across the left of the nature of the battle being fought, it proposed.

It welcomed the Stop the War coalition’s campaign to prevent a disastrous war on Iran and called on nations, districts and branches to look at holding local meetings and working with Stop the War to build the anti-war movement.