Following our first round of testimonies, four more new Counterfire members give their reasons for joining

Alix O’Hanlon Alexandra – student

I joined Counterfire as I felt utterly let down by Labour after Corbyn was replaced. I wasn’t comfortable with my subs going to a party who seemed so against socialism and against the grassroots, from-the-ground-up campaigning that had been such a positive, inspiring part of Corbyn’s Labour.

I felt politically homeless, until a Counterfire friend pointed out the importance of politics outside parliament. Counterfire cares about the issues I care about and because it’s not trying to score PR points with the public, it can be noisy and passionate about those causes.

I’ve found friends, comrades, a real community of articulate, clued-up people who share so many more of the values that I hold dear.

Unjum Mirza – tube worker

In the midst of the first lockdown I joined Counterfire. It was the most important decision I made in 2020. 

In shining a light on Covid-19, Counterfire connects the full spectrum of issues revealed through the refracted reality of a society that controls our lives: health; inequality; poverty; race; class; climate change; war.

In consistently seeking the truth by comparing the government lies and challenging an establishment in which Keir Starmer’s Labour Party firmly resides, Counterfire offers the alternative ideas we need to make sense of the world.

Most importantly, the continual debates; assessments and re-assessments are always prerequisites to addressing the key question: what is to be done?

That’s why I joined Counterfire – a political organisation that unites our collective strength in response to the crisis with a strategic orientation towards the struggles of extra-parliamentary social forces and workers where our power lies in urgently shaping our future.

Richard Baldwin – teacher

How did I come to join Counterfire? I am, most definitely, a ‘Jeremy come lately’, sleeping with the sleepers for the most part (I occasionally liked to kid myself that I was a “disappointed idealist”).

Thankfully Mr Corbyn became leader of the Labour Party and woke me up. He also seemed to open up a number of doors, one of which, I’m very glad to say, led to Counterfire HQ (one of them led to the Labour Party too, but I didn’t hang around there for long)

I wandered into various CF meetings, listened to and read books by Counterfire members and met, chatted with and learned from numerous friendly comrades (who I hope, over time, will become comradely friends). Thanks to them my political education is continuing apace – I already almost know how to pronounce hegemony; once I know what it means there’ll be no stopping me.

Caitlin Southern – health worker

Being in an organisation outside of the Labour Party lets me be involved in actively campaigning on important social issues without having to abide by the constraints of the ever-moving goalposts that come with chasing electability.

Rather than following the trends of parliamentary politics it affords me the ability to be involved in campaigns that I think will shape the narrative in a more constructive manner, with a consistent approach to achieving meaningful change.

I feel that this resonates more strongly with people than the vacillating approach often seen in parties that seek to use the existing establishment structures.

Join the fightback. Join Counterfire today.