Unity

This has been a tough one

It's been painful

Unbelievably frustrating

And at times it's felt like I was losing my mind

I've tried to write this blog a million times, but everything I want to say you've likely already read. There have been so many amazing posts, blogs and videos explaining in a level of detail that seems to be beyond the Remain campaign itself why exactly we should stay in the EU. Economic uncertainty, having a larger say on the world stage, the fact that Turkish people definitely aren't going to come over here and eat your children and the whole "immigration is actually good for us" arguments have been made by a vast number of people much cleverer than me succinctly and beautifully, and for many weeks I was just going to rehash the same sentiment.

And then Jo Cox was murdered in cold blood outside her weekly surgery.

All I wanted to do was hate, and scream, and point fingers. Label any who dubbed the killer as mentally disturbed, when they themselves label anyone Muslim as a terrorist under similar circumstances, as a vile hypocrite. point fingers at the likes of Boris Johnson and Michael Gove for being opportunists who've stirred up hatred for political gain, or, as Ken Clarke so beautifully put it, behaved like "Trump with a thesaurus". I wanted to point at the troubles at the Euros, where England fans were filmed throwing coins on the ground and amusing themselves by watching refugee children scrabbling around on the floor for them, and showing a level of violence that has been mercifully absent from many major tournaments in recent years, and suggest that it may just have something to do with virtually every newspaper filling their pages with grotesque anti-Europe and immigration sentiment, and a frankly bizarre level of national pride for our dubious-at-best record on the world stage. I wanted to hate.

But it was something really simple that stopped me writing that piece. Jeremy Corbyn and David Cameron standing together. United in grief.

I know full well this isn't the first time this has happened. Indeed, in light of almost any tragedy the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition will trot out together to show solidarity. But there was something different this time.

On a purely political level, despite campaigning for the same thing (albeit for different reasons) Cameron and Corbyn have flat-out refused to campaign together. Their rhetoric is too different. Although it would be utterly disastrous for both of them if the decision is Leave, they will not stand side by side. And that's politics. Just politics.

When your colleague is murdered for apparently ideological reasons, that's another thing entirely.

I'm an Aston Villa fan. By default, I despise Birmingham City. It seriously pleases me almost as much when Birmingham lose then when Villa win (which admittedly isn't that often) The majority of Villa fans feel the same. There is no explanation for it, it is utterly irrational, but it's ingrained in me, like it's ingrained in many other sports fans. However, at no point have I, or will I, ever let that distaste spill over to violence. And the majority of that majority will be the same. If a City fan is murdered by a Villa fan simply for who he supports, then his is not a fan, just a murderer. And only the most despicable Villa fans wouldn't mourn.

Politics is no different. You don't hurt and kill for your politics in a civilised democracy. Unity is always better than hatred of another tribe. We all mourned for Paris, yet how many times have you heard "I hate the French"? We all mourned for Madrid, we all mourned for Belgium, we mourned for Beirut, and Garissa in Kenya, and Ankara, and Baghdad, and Norway, and Syria, and New York, and the rest of the civilised world mourned for London. We united against that hate.

And that's why, on the most basic of levels, we should Remain. If we left, the economy would likely recover after a few years, as would trade. But we would be on our own. Ostracised. Seen as a nasty little island full of bitter people who miss owning and being in charge of everything. Before the EU, Europe was at war for thousands of years. Before the EU, 70% of European countries didn't even have a proper democracy. It is floored, of course. But democracy itself is a work in progress. We are better together, living through downturn, and a deteriorating environment, and hate, together. Shoulder to shoulder.

Unity brings out the best in all of us. Vote Remain.