There could be a World War,” says David Cameron. “Or even worse, house prices might fall”, George Osborne replies.

This imaginary conversation, shown in speech bubbles and under the headline “Project Fear Brexit goes Nuclear”, appeared on the front of Private Eye last month.

The cover worked, as good satire always does, because it contained a strong element of truth. A high proportion of voters do believe, after all, that the Government has taken “Project Fear” to absurd “nuclear” levels.

Those of us who want to leave the European Union, having been dubbed “economically illiterate” by the Chancellor, have since been told by our Prime Minister that we’re “quitters” who are making Islamic extremists “happy” and “threatening peace and stability across Europe”.