My children feel betrayed by the generation they have been told to trust

Cameron is gone. The good news stops there, unfortunately. I sat through the night watching as England and Wales voted to be smaller, more insular, and less tolerant. It was like watching a once mighty man stumbling back from the pub. So be it.

My children are upset. Like the majority of those under 30 who voted, they voted to remain as part of the EU. They sat up with me until they could no longer contain their astonishment — and disgust — that the Leave campaign was consistently ahead of the Remain campaign.

Their response was driven by despair. This morning they have started to research getting Irish passports. I am Scottish and my wife is Irish. They could conceivably hang on and see whether Scotland breaks free on the back of its convincing desire to remain part of the EU. The irony is sharp; Scots will agitate for independence so they can join something larger while the remaining unionists in England will hope to cling on to Scotland while celebrating leaving the EU. Confusing, too. Ireland, for the moment, appears to be European and proud of it.

This is politics in a time where chaos is threatening to engulf us all. It’s rather like floating in a calm sea with a small cut on your leg knowing that there are hungry sharks drifting in the water below you.

I feel sad for my children — and for their whole generation — whose future has been perverted by an older, more bitter generation who suddenly feel it is better to lock the door and turn away from the windows than to continue to engage with the world.