Jamie Driscoll writes for the Northern Echo ahead of the Big Meeting

On the second Saturday in July, 200,000 people, me included, will gather in Durham and march through the city under trade union and colliery banners.

As the banners pass under the famous balcony of the County Hotel where Callaghan, Corbyn and Crow have all stood, you’ll notice one word repeated on the designs more than any other – unity.

In our part of the world, unity isn’t just an abstract slogan.  It was an approach to working relationships that could literally save your life.

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When the great coalfields of Durham and Northumberland were still open extreme danger was an everyday risk for pitmen.

Amongst the dark, the noise and the hazards, you had to depend on the man by your side for your safety – and he on you. 

The Geordie word ‘marra’ means trusted friend and workmate who’ll be there for you.

In North East dialect, ‘goodbye’ is replaced with ‘gan canny’ – roughly translated as ‘go carefully’. 

An important maxim when a momentary lapse of attention could spell disaster, widowing wives and orphaning children. 

That camaraderie persisted through the centuries, and even today the Friends of Durham Miners Gala are known as the Marras.  

This philosophy extended beyond the pit itself and into the wider community.

Trade unions became the embodiment of that bond of mutual concern –providing strength through collective bargaining and security through education and welfare provision.

Now I don’t want to pop on my rose-tinted specs and get all dewy eyed about this.

I’m not talking about some idealised utopia where everyone loved each other and never fell out.

I’m talking about unity as a pragmatic response to the immediate dangers of a working-class existence.

Unity is an everyday necessity in the organisation and defence of working people.

So where is that unity today?

We were unified in our gratitude towards key workers during the pandemic.

Sadly, our government didn’t reflect this when negotiating pay deals, so now we have widespread industrial action.

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You’ll certainly find unity on the picket lines.

Not just between the striking workers but with the vast majority of the public too.

But within the Labour Party, unity is in short supply.

Last month I was struck by the jarring irony of returning from a PCS picket line to find an email from the Labour Party, saying I was barred from the longlist of candidates for North East Mayor, despite being incumbent North of Tyne Mayor.

No explanation given. No right of appeal. I was just politely blacklisted.

I am certainly not alone in this treatment.

Just ask Mick Whitley, Beth Winter, Neal Lawson or the thousands of councillors, candidates and members with a multitude of differing political views, who have been cast aside in similar circumstances.

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In the current Labour leadership’s pursuit of power, it seems the space for debate is being squeezed into an ever-narrower zone of acceptability – not so much an echo chamber as an echo cupboard.

The strength of a movement is not measured by one opinion poll or one election. Gaining power is just the first step, enacting lasting change is a long-term project.

As the adage reminds us ‘if you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.’

The party may be striding ahead in the polls today, on the back of the Tory ‘permacrisis’. 

But how far can it get marching on with an ever-shrinking band of yes-men and women? When the tough times inevitably come, will those at the head of the column turn to see an army of members, activists and trade unionists behind them?

Or an abandoned field, littered with flags carrying long forgotten slogans?

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The day after Keir Starmer was elected leader of the Labour Party, he called me up for a chat. I offered to do whatever I could to help unify the party.

A democratic process had been completed and it was time to crack on with the job.

I haven’t heard much from Keir since.

However, if he wants to take me up on the offer, I’ll be in Durham on Saturday, marching with hundreds of thousands of working people, with banners held high – after all, the Labour movement is not the Leader of the Opposition’s office, it’s the millions of working people organised in mutual solidarity. 

They understand that unity is strength.