Why I joined the Socialist Party

I’m tired of austerity and status quo

photo Dave Gorton

photo Dave Gorton   (Click to enlarge: opens in new window)

Farhana Manzoor, Camden and Haringey Socialist Party

I am tired of austerity and the squeeze on the working class and lower middle class. What happened to the concept of ‘quality of life’, where families have the right to a fair standard of living, an affordable home, a comfortable income, allowing them to build roots, and have a familiar local network of friends and family?

As a lecturer and tutor, I see the immense strain school teachers and university professors are under – large classes, poor working environments, and unstable incomes. We need more investment to attract teachers, rather than training them up before they are forced to emigrate to places with better working conditions and pay.

I lament the crumbling of NHS services, and strongly support free, fully nationalised, health services for all. We need to replace fossil fuels and nuclear power with renewable energy, not 50 years on, but now.

I have been dissatisfied with the status quo and questioning issues for over a decade. We are not encouraged to have a voice, as the common person, or to exert influence on shaping the circumstances in which we live.

Do you ever feel that you are not represented by mainstream politicians? From atrocities and gross human rights abuses in the Arabian region and Africa, fuelled by the economic concerns of the powerful and wealthy, to economic and social discontent in our home in places like Britain.

Few speak up against ever-increasing economic disparity. But with the Socialist Party, I have found a voice calling for workers’ rights, fairer pay and an end to insecure work.

I hope my small summary has lit a spark in you.