COMRADES, as the Morning Star’s Covid-19 survival appeal draws to a close, this year’s Tour de France departs from Nice for the 3,470km race across the Pyrenees and Alps and on to the finish on the Champs-Elysees in Paris.

A welcome sight to all riders is the flamme rouge, a red flag which indicates there is 1km to go in that day’s stage. 

That’s where we are, comrades: at the flamme rouge.

And this is the point at which I start waving my red flag and shouting “Allez les gars!” as I implore you to get out your cheque books and laptops and power on to the £90,000 finish line.

Last week’s challenge set by a couple in Faringdon who pledged to double their £250 donation if it was matched by another reader was taken up by a reader in Stockport.

“I also give regularly to foodbanks,” he wrote, “but I know the only real way forward is through socialism.”

This reminded me of the Brazilian Archbishop Dom Helder Camara who said: “When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint. When I ask why the poor have no food, they call me a communist.”

“Go get the bastards!” urged a reader from Nuneaton who sent £500.

Don’t worry, comrade. We’ve been calling out their system of exploitation for quite a while and we’re not about to stop any time soon.

A 90-year-old reader from Watford, who was born the same year the first copy of the Daily Worker rolled off the printing presses, agrees.

“My father helped put the Daily Worker on the streets and I can’t let him down,” she wrote, enclosing a cheque for £500.

A reader from Devon sent me fifty pounds after finally finding what he’s been looking for.

“Searching for a newspaper I can trust and respect has taken a while, but at 80 years of age I feel at home at last with the Morning Star,” he explained. 

Another £50 arrived from a reader in Crawley who wrote: “I’ve been reading the Daily Worker and Morning Star on and off since 1951 and I trust you will meet your target.”

From Monmouth, a reader sent £25 in praise of our “coverage of national and international issues.” 

On that theme, a reader in Enfield sent me £30 for “Navid Shomali’s excellent piece on the 1953 Iranian coup.” 

A Hexham reader who “couldn’t bear the thought of no Morning Star” sent me £15. And the RMT’s Central and North Mersey branch stumped up a hundred quid in appreciation of the Pedal4Progress cycling fundraiser.

Congratulations are due to the Shropshire Readers and Supporters Group, who sent me the final instalment of their promised £1,000, plus another £80 on top! 

£245 from the online fundraiser organised by the London readers group helped bring this week’s postbag up to £4,466.

Comrades, we have four grand left to raise and four days left to save the Morning Star. 

Let’s do it for socialism!

Allez les gars!

Calvin Tucker is Morning Star campaigns manager.

Please make cheques made payable to: The People’s Press Printing Society and post to: The Morning Star appeal, William Rust House, 52 Beachy Road, London E3 2NS.

Bank transfer to Payee: The People’s Press Printing Society Account, Bank: The Co-operative Bank PLC Bank Branch: Islington Sort Code: 089033 Account Number: 50505115, Reference: Appeal (Or P4P8 if the donation is for the Pedal for Progress event raising money for this appeal)

Or to donate online, please click here.