BRIGHTON – as ever – is different, at least judging by the audience at The Argus’s packed EU debate.

At the start of the meeting I couldn’t help but notice that much of the heckling – and I’ve nothing against a good heckle – came from men, seated in the front rows, who were angrily in favour of Britain leaving the EU.

But they were far from representative of the audience as a whole whose questions – of which there was no shortage – covered issues as diverse as fears about the economy, the future of EU citizens living in Britain and how the vote would

affect the prospects of global war or peace.

As the chairman of the meeting I was struck by the passion that the topic excited in both the audience and the members of the panel – and so it should do. Elections come and go but this is, I believe, the single most important decision the British people have ever been asked to take.

At the start of the meeting I had asked for a show of hands – those for Remain, those for Leave, the undecideds and those not voting. As a democrat I’m pleased to say there were none in the last category with the Remain and Leave camps

roughly evenly divided and around 30 or 40 undecideds. 

I asked for a similar vote at the end of the meeting and there was a distinct shift in opinion with very few now undecided, accompanied by an increase in the Remain vote – unscientific but interesting.

So in what way was Brighton different last night? Quite simply because, whilst last night’s audience was moving towards Remain, the national polls have been showing public opinion moving, slightly but perceptibly, towards Leave.

Which leads me to conclude either that Brighton really is different or maybe just ahead of the game – let’s see if the national polls now follow.