On Thursday we have the chance to change the course of Great Britain. How we vote will decide not just our future but that of our children, our grandchildren and all those who follow.
We know that no Mirror reader takes this responsibility lightly. And that hour upon hour of debate has gone into it in homes, workplaces, pubs and cafes across Britain in recent weeks.
Because not only is this the most important decision for decades. It is also the most difficult.
This newspaper has a long and proud history in fighting for what is right and fair for our readers. But no editorial judgment could have been harder for us than this.
For, in truth, the European Union is a difficult organisation to support with great enthusiasm. It is far from perfect. We understand concerns over uncontrolled immigration – and we will push for change if we remain in.
We feel our readers’ sense of insecurity over pressure on our public services.
But although the EU is flawed, it cannot carry the can for many of frustrations felt by many people up and down the country.
Read more: EU referendum poll tracker
It is our own Tory government, not Brussels, which has starved our schools and hospitals of funds, failed to act on zero hours contracts, failed to build enough houses and allowed the gap between rich and poor to grow to unseen levels.
It is the hard working people of this country who have had to battle to survive the recent recession caused by reckless bankers whose wrongdoing went largely ignored by the establishment.
And perhaps it’s not surprising that, after years of the rich getting richer at the expense of others, some voters may wish to vent their fury by ticking the Leave box. But today we reason with those people to think again.
Because this newspaper’s true aim is the same as it has always been. We want only what is best for our readers. After much consideration, our view is that it is better for the people of this country if we stay in the EU.
Do not be fooled.
Leaders of the Leave campaign, Boris Johnson and Michael Gove might try to pass themselves off as regular guys who care for ordinary people – but that is an illusion.
And with the likelihood one of them could soon be Prime Minister in the event of a Leave vote, the situation is perilous.
The NHS will never be safer in the hands of these free-marketeers who have already inflicted so much damage on our children’s education and care for the disadvantaged, disabled and the jobless. Nor should we believe hard won workers’ rights, guaranteed by our membership of the EU, would be protected if we were to leave.
Your right to maternity leave, paid-holidays, pensions for part-time workers and a 48-hour week are all at risk. We sincerely fear a Leave vote will only heap more hardship on our readers’ lives.
Almost every economic expert agrees leaving Europe will most likely spark a recession more savage than the last one, putting a million jobs at risk, leaving yet more young people out of work.
Rising interest rates would make it even harder for them to find a home. Experts also forecast pension pots will be hit hard and public services, already stretched to breaking point, will be slashed further.
There will be even fewer shops, pubs and libraries on our high streets. The losses to the public purse will dwarf the sums we currently pay in EU subs within weeks.
There will be less money than ever before to sustain our cherished NHS. And the price of food, drink, petrol and clothing could rise by as much as £580 a year as the value of the pound collapses.
To those who cry “Project Fear” we say that no-one can truly predict the outcome of leaving. We simply cannot ignore the combined weight of every living Labour leader, every living Prime Minister, the TUC, the country’s biggest unions, most major employers and nine out of 10 economic experts telling us that our economy will suffer.
Leave campaign leaders might be financially secure enough to cope with any “blip” in the economy – a “blip” even they admit will happen.
But they cannot tell us how big the “blip” will be or how long it will last.
So we ask this question: Who will suffer?
Who always suffers?
Those who can least afford it, that’s who. The hard-working core of our society. The disadvantaged, not the silver-spooned.
We believe we have a duty to tell you the truth as we see it. It’s a truth supported by almost every major employer from Vodafone, BMW and Easyjet and Microsoft to almost every Trade Union including Unite, Unison and the GMB.
Almost three quarters of businesses expect to see trade hit if we leave the EU. But what could be the benefits of leaving Europe?
We may gradually regain some greater control of our borders. But remember less than half of immigrants to Britain actually come from the EU.
Moreover, if we wish to continue trading with our European neighbours we’ll almost certainly have to continue to accept freedom of movement.
That is the deal Norway and Switzerland have had to accept. To access the market of 500million people within the EU countries, they still have to abide by Brussels rules and pay into the EU pot.
We are kidding ourselves if we think the UK can get preferential terms when it comes to negotiating a new agreement.
We we would be lumbered with the worst of all worlds, having to accept EU migrants but with no say at the top table.
As for ‘regaining our sovereignty’? About 13 per cent of our laws are created in the EU. The big stuff; laws on defence, health and education will continue to be made where they always have been – at Westminster.
We always have been and always will be a sovereign nation. But one which has the confidence and boldness to work in partnership with other countries to achieve our goals.
We believe the Leave campaign has manipulated the patriotism of the working people of this country. And this must be exposed.
For it is the working people of this nation who made Britain Great. It is the working people who laboured in the mills and mines that powered the engines of Empire.
It is the working people sent “over the top” who won us two world wars against unimaginable odds. It is the working people who still now staff the hospitals, the factories, the schools and the fields and who have dragged this country back on to its feet after raging recession.
And working people should not allow Farage and co to trade the Great Britain they built for a diminished “Little England”. We should not permit this great nation to skulk off into a shadowy corner of the globe, shaking with timidity and bereft of influence, power or economic might.
For proud and patriotic Brits want their country to stand strong alongside other nations on the world stage as we have done throughout history.
Peace in Europe may feel normal to our younger generations but we only have to ask our parents and grandparents to be reminded how recently it lay smoking in ruins. We should never take our peace for granted.
For there are those who would tear Europe apart again.
It can be of no surprise to anyone that Russia’s expansionist President Putin is a keen advocate of Brexit.
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So there are indeed many issues for us still to consider before voting.
Many of us are caught between what we would like to be true and what we know to be true. We might like to think Brexit would lead to a dramatic reduction in immigration, more money to spend on the NHS, flourishing high streets and jobs for life for our kids.
That is a mirage. It won’t.
So instead we must focus on what we know to be true. Which is that leaving the EU will almost certainly plunge us into years of economic hardship. Is that really a risk worth taking?
Great Britain remains one of the finest nations on earth. We are even Greater in Europe. We are too good to shuffle off to the international sidelines, impoverished economically, culturally and influentially.
We must continue to play a leading role in Europe and to continue the work of building a European Union which reflects our desires and demands.
For our children’ futures. For all our futures. We urge you to vote Remain.