WORKERS should vote to stay in the EU to defeat an “ugly public mood” and threats to jobs, pensions and services, the leader of Britain’s biggest public-sector union said yesterday.

Unison general secretary Dave Prentis used his keynote address to his union’s conference to warn that a vote to leave would put at risk “one of our most cherished national institutions” — the NHS.

He also called on Labour MPs to swing behind Jeremy Corbyn to defeat the Tories, who will be “friends reunited” after Thursday’s vote.

Mr Prentis hit out at Ukip leader Nigel Farage’s “vile and racist poster that looked for all the world like nazi propaganda,” after the union reported it to the police this week.

“Once upon a time, opinions as vile as these would have been limited to the sewer of the far-right fringe, but now Nigel Farage has unleashed them upon the mainstream,” he said.

“An ugly public mood has been stirred up against people who have come to this country for a better life, to work hard, and to help keep our NHS and our other public services going.”

The Unison leader said that both his union and the entire labour movement must “stand together like never before” to resist Tory attacks on communities and services.

“Jeremy Corbyn has our full support, and I want to see every Labour MP work with Jeremy, giving him the chance he has earned to build a different kind of politics,” Mr Prentis said.

“The UK desperately needs a different kind of politics, one that puts people and our public services first.”

But he warned that the union would make “demands” in the interests of its members and in line with its policies, saying: “That’s why Unison will never support renewing Trident nuclear weapons, and that’s why we will fight councils cutting our jobs and services — and that includes Labour councils, like Durham and Derby, slashing the wages of teaching assistants.”

He said new anti-strike laws meant Unison had to “bring together every service group and region in a new organising agenda to reach every member and build for industrial action.

Mr Prentis also paid tribute to murdered Labour MP and Unison member Jo Cox.

“This union will never forget Jo and all she achieved,” he said. “Everything she stood for — kindness, tolerance, and respect for others.”