While we have been distracted by a three-month long leadership election the ‘Britain Out’ campaign has been gaining momentum. This summer the European Union has been in turmoil. ‘Europe in crisis’ stories have been second only to our own internal drama. Whether it was the refugee tragedy or the Greek debt crisis, they have only served to highlight the rifts in a far-from-perfect Europe. Occupied with our own soap opera, we have neglected to articulate any of the arguments in defence of our membership of the EU. We have failed to remind people of the benefits of being part of a collective of countries, and the potential it has to develop even further into a more cohesive Europe. This has given the Eurosceptics an opportunity to assemble their forces and get rested and ready for their attack, and they have taken it.

We are not nearly as ready as they are. Our party needs to be at the forefront of the campaign to remain in the EU, and until a couple of weeks ago it was assumed that we would be. It is understandable that we have failed to take a significant role so far when our own party leader doesn’t know his own position. Like roughly one in six Brits, our leader is undecided, failing to rule out campaigning for Britain Out. We need people to fill this leadership vacuum. We need our best communicators out there articulating the positive common sense arguments, ready with a de facto Labour campaign. Tapping into the passion in the party to stay in the EU and mobilising the majority of members who believe that the idea that we achieve more through our common endeavour than we achieve alone is more than just words on the back of a membership card. Otherwise we risk having to fight this campaign on two fronts – one against the conservatively inclined who saw the refugee crisis developing and believed that the EU was doing too much to help, and one against the liberally inclined who believed that the EU was doing too little, both coming to the conclusion that the EU is not something they want to be part of. Included in their ranks are now the people who have changed their minds over the past six months, the salvageable sceptics who we can convince to come back to us.

This summer should have been our wake-up call. There is no natural EU-supporting majority in Britain. To convince the don’t knows/don’t cares and the people beginning to wonder what the EU is good for we have to run a campaign that combines a message of opportunity with constant reminders of the good it does now. Making it clear what we have to gain in the future as part of a bigger network of countries and what we have to lose if we abandon it. The positive case is ours to make. This is our opportunity. Britain Out’s arguments so far have been rooted in resentment and hyperbole. We have the chance to make a passionate case rooted in sense, talking up the benefits of free trade and free movement for businesses, families and the wealth of our country. We still have this opportunity, but if our party does not show leadership and fast, this referendum is ours for the losing.

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Catherine Vallis is a member of Progress. She tweets @CateVallis