TRADE unions will be the “front line” of resistance to any bid by the Boris Johnson government to exploit Brexit divisions to whip up racism, sexism or homophobia, Len McCluskey said today.

“An attack on one is an attack on all,” the Unite leader said. “We’ve seen the dog-whistle approach of Boris Johnson. Will he continue to generate that or was it a sort of cynical populism, a very dangerous ploy of speaking to people’s fears and magnifying them that has to be challenged?

“And it’ll be trade unions at the forefront of that, certainly Unite. We’re essential to the campaigning of the People’s Assembly, our Unite Community members have been at the forefront of community struggles against discrimination and we’re heavily involved in charities like Show Racism the Red Card — by which I mean we don’t just make donations, we actively engage, go to football grounds, speak to crowds of young people.”