Not a day goes by now without some scaremongering about the impact of either staying in the EU, or of leaving. But we don’t think many would argue that at the moment the Remain side seem to be making all the running in terms of broadcasting what they think the consequences of Brexit would be.

With the infrastructure of Government behind them, a series of Government reports are showing increasingly severe consequences should the Leave side triumph in next month’s referendum. The biggest headlines of the week were made by Treasury forecasts arguing that leaving the EU would trigger a new recession, reducing economic growth from the 2 per cent forecast into the negative. This was followed by the Institute of Fiscal Studies publishing data showing that the consequent hit on the public finances would extend austerity for a further two years.

The Leave side continue to foam at the mouth at what they call ‘Project Fear’ whilst at the same time hitting back with their own warnings about future immigration should the UK remain within the EU. The electorate meanwhile, show increasingly signs of confusion and irritation at what is an almost exclusively negative campaign.

In the last few weeks we’ve been warned that Brexit would embolden Vladimir Putin, make an ISIS attack more likely, cause a recession and prolong austerity. These things may or may not be true, but they do beg one big question. If David Cameron believes the consequences of leaving the EU to be so drastic, why are we having this referendum in the first place?