The blood is up but my head and heart agree – I'm voting Remain

The EU referendum has stirred the blood of the UK body politic as never before. It is up to us to ensure a positive outcome

At 5:30 pm tomorrow I will make my way to the annexe room at our local library to give blood. The appointment was fixed months ago so the fact that it falls on the same day as the vote in the EU referendum is just a coincidence. But as the 23^rd of June has approached and the campaigns intensified, being scarred lately by lies and xenophobia, and then disfigured horribly by the brutal killing of MP Jo Cox, the symbolic aspects of the vote and the donation have come to seem fused.

I used to give blood when I was a student but, during my peripatetic early career working as a research assistant in Grenoble, Surrey and Boston (USA), I got out of the habit and only picked it up again a few years ago. I'm no great fan of needles, but as long as I look away I can cope with being pricked and drained of a pint of the red stuff. It's for a good cause, though giving blood is clearly also an act of reciprocity: should I be in need one day, I hope the NHS will have the donations of others to treat me.