Several years ago, I had the flu and I was lying on the couch watching “daytime” TV…Oprah Winfrey and her guest Dr Phil. Not the kinda show I would normally watch.

Dr Phil said something that made an impression on me. “We all outlive our fears”.

You might well have children who are (say) 12 years old and 10 years old. Worried about choosing the right school. You might be worried about where you work…downsizing, unemployment. You might be worried about your mortgage rate.

But someday you will wake up and discover your sons are 32 years old and 30 years old. You will be retired from work…nobody can sack you. And the mortgage has reached that magical “25 years” completion.

As Dr Phil says…you will outlive your fears.

Of course, you will still care about things. Health, Education, Racism, Peace, Irish re-unification, the maintenance of the “Union”, all the usual stuff. But the point is that you will no longer be afraid. No politician can scare you.

An hour ago, I voted in the EU Referendum. Freed from Fear…I voted “Leave”. I am immune to the Fear that the REMAIN camp used. I am immune to the Fear that the LEAVE camp used. I am just too old to be afraid. And far too old to believe people telling me that I will be better off one way or the other. I am also immune to the moral blackmail “vote for your grandchildren”.

Yes I voted LEAVE  but I am now pretty convinced that REMAIN will win. I met two people today who changed their voting intention because of (in one case) a letter from an employer and (in the other case) a request from her father who had received a similar letter.

Now the REMAIN side will say that advisory letters from employers are simply advisory and voters should “make an informed choice”. Well, we cant call it “intimidation” because the people pressing the “IN” leaflets on us are simply too decent for that…or the stakes are just too high for treating us with minimal respect. And anyway….the LEAVERS are equally unprincipled.

If you try to intimidate me…..oops I mean “inform my choice”, you will fail. If you try to intimidate ….oops I mean “inform the choice” of those I love, then you might succeed …but you will lose my respect. Is it worth it? What for? So that you can add a year’s internship in Brussels to your CV to make a career, maybe even get a real job in the European Union. The numbers dont just stack up for you….most of you will be disappointed.

It has been a shameful campaign. Both sides.

The shocking murder of Jo Cox does have political ramifications. Understandably it is in bad taste to seriously analyse Jo Cox. But that does not excuse the uncritical coverage in the last week. It has provided a platform for her “friends” to further politicise the murder. It might seem tasteless to say the unsayable…but the murder will increase the REMAIN vote. Scenes over the last week are a reminder of Diana, Queen of Hearts. It will all look different in three months. But of course the Referendum will be over and the Remain leaders will be gloating about the victory for Unity over Division.

The self-styled progressives talk about post-Truth politics. Actually the Remainers are involved in “post-Politics” politics. They serve no purpose other than to be in jobs without actually having any power. They prefer it that way.

Proclaiming the end of History was premature. But it might be the end of Politics. Certainly hard for me to take seriously Remainers and Leavers canvassing me in 2020. The leaders on both sides are diminished by this Referendum. The minor players are tainted by association.