This week I received my election papers that enable me to vote who I would like to lead the Labour party. As a trade unionist I was relieved to have not been banned from the vote like many of my colleagues.  If I had been banned I would not now be faced with the dilemma that I do face. Who should I vote for?

Jeremy Corbyn won the leadership race after Ed Miliband quit following defeat at the last general election. Miliband had been attacked in the media for months leading up to the election and I believe acted with grace and integrity in the face of the very personal attacks he suffered. I mention this because the attacks on Jeremy Corbyn have been much worse.

While there was the occasional muttering of descent from MP’s under Miliband, the majority of his critics were in the media. TV and newspapers regularly lined up to take a shot at him for a variety of reasons, be it his Fathers heritage or the way he ate a bacon sandwich but on the whole rarely were there public assaults from his colleagues.

Corbyn faced criticism almost immediately from the moment he was put on the leadership ballot. Many believed he was put there purely to make a point and had little chance of being elected. He won the contest by a long way. The kind of scrutiny he has faced since has been unprecedented. Comments he made decades ago have been dug out and taken out context – as they would be 20 years later. His private life, his voting record and his beliefs have all been strewn across our papers and social media sights for months. Opposition politicians and business men are queuing up to slate him, not to mention the constant barrage from members of his own party.

He faced a mass walk out as the majority of his shadow cabinet resigned following the brexit defeat and then there was a vote of no confidence from many of his MP’s.

The actions and comments of some of those MPs have absolutely disgusted me. I’m not suggesting they should be loyal to the leader no matter what, after all Corbyn himself has been a habitual rebel. What has disgusted me the most has been the attitudes of many of his fellow Labour MPs towards the very people that elected them. The infighting and offensive remarks on twitter and facebook  and in the papers about Corbyns supporters has been nothing short of appalling. Labour is supposed to be a broad church, supporting and standing up for working people and the poorer people in society, unable to stand up for themselves. There have been sustained criticisms of the movement Momentum, and accusations that the new supporters aren’t real supporters but left wing nutters hell bent on destroying the party. While I’m sure there may be an element of truth in this- some of those supporters will undoubtedly have far left attitudes but there will also be a huge number of them that are simply inspired by Corbyns anti establishment image- it didn’t do Nigel Farage and his UKIP party any harm.

I voted for Corbyn at the last leadership election because I firmly believe that there is an appetite in this country for more left wing, anti austerity politics from the party. I think people are fed up of being punished for the state of our country that they did not cause. Bankers, businessmen and politicians have made this country be a country of haves and have not’s. The likes of Cameron and Farage have done a great job of creating divisions up and down the country with their propaganda pitting rich against poor, English against immigrant, working against lazy black against white. The fact is that not everything is black or white and the choices that people make do not have to be binary choices. I take great exception at been called a raging leftie or even a Corbynista. I am a trade unionist from a working class family that believes in equality and fairness and thinks that those in the position to help the less fortunate should. I’m not a socialist nor do I wear any other label. I just want a kinder politics where the people we elect to represent us do so with respect for each other and those who elected them. I expect that from who ever I vote for within the Labour party, it is essential.

We, the group of people who believe that everyone deserves an education, a roof over their head and rights in the workplace should be stood side by side, fighting those who do not share our beliefs, not those that do. Call it naivety, but I expect those things to be on the agenda of either candidate. I have seen little if any criticism about policy. Apart from those who disagree with Corbyn on Trident and borders, most people actually agree with his policies on traditional Labour values such as wanting to bring our railways back into public ownership and wanting to protect the NHS from privatisation.

My fear is that rather than uniting the party, which ever candidate is successful may lead to deeper splits in the party. The majority of trade unions seem to back Mr Corbyn and as the unions are the biggest financial contributor to the party, it worries me greatly what might happen if as some predict the party does split. People on both sides of the party seem to see this as likely. Some think that if Corbyn wins the MPs who oppose him will split and set up their own group and others believe that if Smith wins the Unions might take their money away and set up their own group. What we need if we are to persuade the electorate is Unity and support for who ever wins but people must put the welfare of the party before their own agendas.