E P Thompson the Marxist historian died aged 69 in August 1993. Bruce Kent, Catholic Priest and peace campaigner died almost 30 years later on 8th June 2022.
Yet in the early 1980s they found a unity based on opposition to a new generation of nuclear weapons deployed by the US and Britain. Kent told Socialist Review that he was impressed by Thompson’s anti nuclear polemic Protest and Survive.
When Kent became CND General Secretary in Jan 1980 they went on a joint speaking tour across the UK attracting thousands at meetings to oppose nukes.
Despite different backgrounds and views (Thompson had a Methodist background before joining the Communist Party and then leaving it in 1956) they were united in promotion humanity over nuclear destruction.
How far that unity should go remains a matter of political debate see Thompson and END. The historical moment is worth capturing though
Hi Keith, I’ve been wondering for years whether we were doing the right thing with END in which I was very active. I ran away from school in 1960 and was basically educated on the Aldermaston march. When END came along I must have pushed thousands of students in that direction. I still maintain Gorbachev did the right thing but my abiding naivety meant that I was not alert to what capitalist propaganda would do with that moment. And I still feel guilty. I would love to know your take on that. solidarity, Julie Ford
Want to read Thompson’s END stuff again first!