Many are calling the U.K.’s European Union referendum vote on Thursday, the most important vote in every British person’s lifetime. On the eve of the vote, polls show it could go either way, and tensions remain high after the killing last week of pro-E.U. Labour MP Jo Cox, who was shot and stabbed to death by a rightwing, pro-Brexit extremist.

The argument about whether or not to stay in the E.U. has steadily heated up since the plans for a referendum were first announced last year after Prime Minister David Cameron won the general election. Both right and left have launched “remain” and “leave” campaigns. Interestingly, Cameron backs the “remain” camp although it has, for the most part, been dominated by Britain's more left-wing voices.

On the other hand, as evidenced by Cox’s murder, the “leave” campaign has seen leftist arguments for leaving drowned out by a tide of racist rhetoric from the right, with the most vocal “leave” campaigners focused on regaining Britain’s “sovereignty” and preventing “infiltration” from other countries.

Britain Stronger in Europe, the official cross-party “pro-remain” campaign, claims that staying in Europe will protect jobs, lower prices, protect workers’ rights, and ensure a "stronger, safer and better off Europe.” Its campaign video cites six main reasons for staying in the E.U.:


1. “Over 3 million U.K. jobs are linked to our trade with the E.U.”

2. “Being in the E.U. means lower prices in our shops.”

3. “Over 200,000 U.K. businesses trade with the E.U.”

4. “The U.K. get £66 million of investment a day from the E.U.”

5. “The European Arrest Warrant helps arrest criminals across the U.K.”

6. “For every £1 we put into the E.U., we get £10 back, through trades, jobs, investments and lower prices.”

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Nick Crook is head of international relations at UNISON, the U.K.’s main public sector union, which is fighting hard to keep the U.K. in the E.U.

“The E.U. is the U.K.’s biggest trading partner and our major source of foreign direct investment is because of the U.K.’s access to the single market,” Crook told Occupy.com. “We already know that millions of jobs are dependent on the E.U. and access to the single market. But it’s not just the jobs market, it’s also workers’ rights, because most employment legislation that is in place in the U.K. at the moment derivates from E.U. regulations.”

Responding to criticism from the “leave” campaign that Members of European Parliament (MEPs) don't have enough power, and that the E.U. is run by a team of unelected “Eurocrats," he said:

“The E.U. has a democracy. It might not be a perfect one but it exists. The European Parliament can dismiss the European Commission and it has happened in the past. I lobby Brussels on a regular basis and I find it more accessible and more transparent than I do lobbying Westminster on behalf of UNISON.”

As for “leave” camp's personal composition, he added that it is "a campaign led by people like [powerful right-wing politicians] Michael Gove, Boris Johnson and Nigel Farage – the same bunch of people who have been slashing public expenditure and attacking the National Health Service and would happily do away with workers’ rights tomorrow if they could. The language they use is dangerous, particularly around migration and immigrants. These people want to put up walls all around the U.K.”

Leftists on the "leave" side have expressed shock and outrage at the Cox killing. “We are horrified at the death of Jo Cox and send our deepest condolences to her husband and children, to her family, friends and colleagues,” said a spokesperson for the Left Leavecampaign.

“We believe that the murder of an elected representative marks a deterioration of our society and our politics. Any links with possible far right groups must be fully investigated. The atmosphere of racism and Islamophobia, and the scapegoating of migrants and refugees, which have been so much part of political discourse in recent years, is in danger of poisoning all political debate.”

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So why, then, are so many on the left voting to leave? “We are in favor of leaving the E.U. because ‘Fortress Europe’ and the E.U.’s systematic promotion of austerity policies has led to the growth of such reactionary ideas," said the spokesperson. "Whatever the outcome of this referendum, all on the left must unite against such racism and support policies which undercut appeals to scapegoating minorities.”

On the other hand, Baroness Jenny Jones, a Green Party member of the House of Lords, has come under fire for rebelling against her party’s official policy and campaigning for a “leave” vote.

“The biggest issue for me is that a small number of people, i.e. the E.U. commission, are the people who make decisions,” Jones told Occupy.com. “The MEPs don’t have much power – they’re a bit like the House of Lords here. So what happens is that lobbyists for big business are actually influencing the E.U. agenda far more than the people who are supposedly being represented. For me, there is a terrible lack of democracy and it’s a situation where the environmental and social welfare concerns of the E.U. are not given very much importance because big business decides what’s going to happen.”

It is perhaps strange, in that sense, that the right has dominated the “leave” campaign. But Jones says there is a simply reason: "Because it talks about immigration. It’s like a red flag. As far as I can work out, though, leaving won’t affect immigration numbers. It might be different people coming in, but it will be the same numbers. As long as we have a moderately healthy economy while parts of the rest of the world are having a hard time, it’s inevitable that people are going to want to come here. And we need those immigrants. But a lot of people in Britain are frightened and wrongly believe that immigrants are taking their jobs.”

Responding to the question of whether she is afraid the U.K.’s current Conservative government will gain even more power if no longer scrutinized by the E.U., Jones added: “We’re in danger of our Tory government taking away some of our rights, but at least we can get rid of that Tory government, whereas we can’t get rid of the people making decisions in the E.U. The fact we’re under a Tory regime now is no reason to stay under another oppressive regime in the form of the E.U.”

Many have expressed concern that despite its historic importance, turnout for the vote will be low.

“The fact that one in six people have [still] had zero contact about the referendum… is a stark sign that, outside of Westminster, this conversation clearly isn’t reaching everyone,” said Katie Ghose, chief executive of the Electoral Reform Society. “While the vast majority of people have received a leaflet, just a tiny fraction of people have had any in-person discussion or dialogue when it comes to contact about the referendum. For the public, the campaigns appear to have been confined to the airwaves and mail-drops rather than real engagement or… debate.”

A survey this week showed that only 22% of British citizens feel well-informed about the referendum. At the time of writing, the latest YouGov poll showed that of 1,652 surveyed, the “leave” campaign was slightly ahead at 44 pecent, with 42 percent for “remain” and 9 percent “undecided.”

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