The dreadful taking of a single life has been used to influence a momentous decision for everyone

Whoever wins, a lot of people will feel they lost and carry the scars for a lifetime. Better to get over it now before the result is in.

That is why I want to know no more about it. I have decided – I will vote for Leave. I am getting used to the idea of defeat.

The death of Jo Cox, a hitherto barely known public figure, has generated a sympathy vote for Remain. And that’s that. No more can be done.

Her light has been turned off by a nutcase and the media has fanned the emotions of the nation against Nigel Farage in particular as though he was her killer. All the efforts of Gove, Grayling, Gisela Stuart and Johnson will be as nought. What a madhouse we inhabit.

For the last four days the TV, radio and the internet have carried nothing but the kind of emotional outpourings we last saw on the death of Princess Diana. Unrelenting hand wringing, wide-eyed grief, and perorations in memory of a fine woman embodying the virtues of the nation.

The media has indulged this by presenting us with the commiserations of those who knew her when she was young, those who knew her through her work, and those who never knew her at all – coverage that has completely drowned out the referendum debate.

The fact that Leave was leading for the first time, and may now lose because of its loss of momentum, should be a cause for concern for everyone.

The media, that has continually framed the debate in the context of left and right, has shifted it back by focusing on the last message of Jo Cox, a Remain supporter, to stand against hatred – thus implying (they, not her) that Leave supporters are the haters.

No one wants to be thought of as a hater. The schedulers and editors knew what they were doing.

The dreadful taking of a single life has been used to influence the momentous decision of a lifetime for everyone else.

I wanted change.

Now, according to the polls, we will only get more of the same. Unless we recover some balance.

Garvin Crawford, Comber