Your paper - 83 years young and more relevant than ever

The doggedness and willingness of so many of you to join together to meet the £192,000 fundraising goal will confound the capitalist classes who believe that human nature is reflected only by the pursuit of personal gain driven by individual greed.

How wrong they are.

To the wealthy who believe they have a divine right to rule £192,000 is chicken feed. High Tory London Mayor Boris Johnson said precisely that of the £250,000 salary he was gifted to write a weekly column in The Telegraph.

Our success reflects small personal sacrifices, with people donating funds from their already meagre wages, benefits or pensions.

It reflects wider support within the labour movement, with thousands sent in from trade union branches and organisations the length and breadth of Britain.

And it is the satisfying fruit of so many readers' labour in taking to the streets, come rain or shine, and holding collections to secure the existence of the only daily voice for working-class people.

The need for this paper is now more critical than in years.

Eighty years ago, on December 31 1932, the first editor of the Morning Star's forerunner the Daily Worker set out the reasons why the paper must exist, under the headline Workers will need the Daily Worker more than ever in 1933.

"Who can tell what 1933 will bring forward?" asked Bill Rust.

"No-one can assume the role of a prophet, but it will certainly be a year when the working-class, including the 'scrap' (MacDonald's infamous description of the unemployed) will have to fight every inch of the way in order to defend its standard of living."

How much those words apply again today.

As do these: "During 1933 the Daily Worker will struggle to do everything in its power to organise the fight of the working class against the starvation drive and the rotten capitalist system.

"Capitalism is becoming more shaky than ever, but the might of the workers is the only power of overthrowing it and building Socialism."

In 2013 we will again be calling for the vital funds this paper needs to fulfil the political role so eloquently expressed by Rust.

In return we shall do our utmost to rise to the challenge.