W. P. Coates
William Peyton "Pat" Coates was an Irish labour activist and communist who was active in the sphere of Anglo-Soviet relations.
Biography
In 1901, he took a clerical position on the railways, and by 1903 was a member of the Railway Clerks Association and subsequently its successor, the Transport Salaries Staffs Association. He joined the Social Democratic Federation, later joining the British Socialist Party.In 1913, he married Zelda Kahan.
He became the BSP's National Organiser in March 1919 and was involved in founding the Communist Party of Great Britain.
In September 1919, when the National Hands Off Russia Committee was formed at a conference in Manchester, Coates became its secretary. He filled this post until the Ramsay MacDonald government established diplomatic relations with the U.S.S.R. The committee was then transformed into the Anglo-Russian Parliamentary Committee. Coates retained the position of secretary of this organisation until his death.
In 1923, he visited Russia.
Works
Present Position of Anglo-Russian Relations London: National "Hands off Russia" CommitteeExport credit schemes and Anglo-Russian trade London: National "Hands off Russia" CommitteeWhy Russia should be recognised London: National "Hands off Russia" CommitteeRussia's counter-claims London: National "Hands off Russia" CommitteeWhy Anglo-Russian Diplomatic Relations Should be Restored London: Anglo-Soviet Parliamentary CommitteeIs Soviet Trade a Menace? London: Anglo-Soviet Parliamentary Committee ' London: V. Gollancz- '