When we stand together, we thrive

As this referendum campaign draws towards a close, I think everyone can agree on two things.

First, it matters.  As the moment of decision looms, this will be one of the most important votes any of us will cast in our lives.

And second, this is close.

Complacency of the start of the campaign, that this was just a quick canter to the winning post for remain, has disappeared as anger from our forgotten communities finds its voice.

Who can be surprised that in so many let-down industrial areas, voting for the status quo is not exactly a popular option?

So this could go either way.

As leader of the UK’s biggest union, I know the hopes and fears of the working-class communities across the country, the sort of community I grew up in and have kept my roots in.

Working people tell me every day that they are fed up with getting the rough end of the deal.  Our once great public services ruined by austerity, the mean McJobs, the boarded up high streets, the struggle to keep a roof over a family’s head and food on the table.

Someone is to blame for this, but it’s not migrant workers.

Look at conditions at Sports Direct’s warehouse. Migrant workers getting robbed and abused are not to blame for that. Mike Ashley and his managers are the villains.

Getting rid of immigrants won’t improve conditions there – getting rid of bad bosses will.

A Brexit would be a dream come true for Ashley and his ilk.

And Johnson and Farage have no intention of seeing working people `take back control’ – the Leave leadership long to finish off what Maggie Thatcher started.  They are packing the matches and intend to torch workers’ rights.

That is why Unite, shoulder-to-shoulder with the majority of UK unions and the Labour party, is fighting all the way for a Remain vote.

We want the best deal for our jobs and communities, for our children’s futures.

And we are determined to protect working people from the possibility of a far right government sure to occupy Number 10 if Brexit dawns.

Last Thursday, a young family had someone they loved so very dearly taken from them.

Jo Cox was a brave young woman who believed with a passion that more unites us than divides us, that when we stand together, we thrive.

On Thursday when you go to vote, let this belief in unity inspire you.    Vote hope – and vote remain.

• An edited version of this piece first appeared in The Mirror today (June 20)