An abject, self-imposed if this proud, important

PRIME MINISTER compassionate; one that reaches out to make the world a better place. Our public life is poorer for her loss. We will miss her, and we pray for her family and friends.

It is not easy, in the wake of Jo’s murder, to turn to the question of Thursday’s referendum. But we must. For, as Jo had been pointing out so effectively over the past few months, our country now stands at a crossroads. We face an existential choice on Thursday. This country has a big decision to make – and there is so much at stake.

First, our economy hangs in the balance. Today, Britain is on course to be one of the big success stories of the 21st century – growing faster this year than any other advanced economy in the world except America. We’re an open, dynamic, trading nation. Indeed, the single market we are part of inside the EU was practically a British invention.

It is simply common sense that if we left, trade would be damaged, and investment in Britain would suffer because businesses would no longer be able to access the EU from Britain in the same way. Our economy would therefore be smaller.

Now, there has been a lot of debate about the precise impact of this; whether we’d suffer a “mild” recession quickly after leaving, or if it would be a much more severe shock. There’s been a discussion about exactly how much unemployment would go up by. There’s been debate about how much poorer Britain would be in the long term. And there’s been speculation about the size of the black hole that would open up in the public finances.

But try to find a single credible voice who predicts that Britain will actually be better off, more economically secure and better able to fund our public services if we left Europe. There isn’t one. And so it’s no surprise that there hasn’t been any serious attempt from the Leave campaign to contest the central economic facts of this referendum: that Britain will be worse off if we left; that there would be no saving from leaving, only a cost; that there would be no gain, just pain. A probable recession. Debilitating uncertainty – perhaps for a decade until things were sorted. Higher prices, lower wages, fewer jobs, fewer opportunities for young people. A permanently poorer country in every sense. How could we knowingly vote