David Cameron faces 27 of his peers in Brussels tonight hoping to persuade the European Union’s leaders to accept a new deal for Britain. If there’s a deal there’ll probably be a referendum in June. The stakes are high, and whatever happens tonight and tomorrow, the referendum may still lead to Brexit.

I’d say the odds on Brexit and Bremain are close to even. I certainly wouldn’t put money on the issue. Cameron was a fool to promise a referendum, and I don’t doubt he regrets it bitterly, though perhaps he would have lost the General Election if he hadn’t. So, as people say nowadays, ‘we are where we are.’

News junkies aren’t starved of news and opinions, but it’s hard to know what to believe. I’m usually convinced by the most recent passionately expressed opinion I’ve heard. So I’ll attempt an algorithmic approach and assign a score to a few of the most commonly expressed opinions to reflect the extent to which I believe they recommend Brexit (0) or Bremain (10) and their weight in the overall argument. In respect of some of the more important considerations (economic, for example) I’ve listed a cluster of interconnected opinions. An average below 5 means Exit and an average above 5 means Remain.

First, I’ll make the calculation based on my own judgement, and then again based on my impression of what middle England might believe. Note that all these judgements, both mine and mine about Middle England, are formed two or three inches beneath the skull in a region where both logic and emotion contend (is there any place in the brain where these don’t contend?).

• Brexit would lead to the dissolution of the United Kingdom, with Scotland demanding a second referendum on independence [8]
• Brexit would mean economic disadvantage for Britain [6]
• Brexit would allow Britain to pursue economic policies less ‘statist’ than Europe’s [5]
• Brexit would strengthen the global role of the City of London [4]
• Brexit would weaken the global influence of the UK [6]
• Brexit would enable Britain to control and curtail immigration [8]
• Brexit would return powers to Westminster [6]
• Brexit weakens Europe’s political stance in relation to Russia (6]
• Brexit would slow the regional and global advance of human rights and common cultural values [6]
• Brexit strengthens the cultural identity of the UK [6]
• Brexit weakens the military influence of the UK [5]
• Brexit would lead to the dissolution of the European Union (8)
• Brexit would lead to German hegemony in Europe (6)

So, my average is 6.15. I’m clearly for Bremain.

What do I think middle England thinks?

• Brexit would lead to the dissolution of the United Kingdom, Scotland demanding a second referendum on independence [6]
• Brexit would mean economic disadvantage for Britain [6]
• Brexit would allow Britain to pursue economic policies less ‘statist’ than Europe’s [5]
• Brexit would strengthen the global role of the City of London [5]
• Brexit would weaken the global influence of the UK [4]
• Brexit would enable Britain to control and curtail immigration [3]
• Brexit would return powers to Westminster [4]
• Brexit weakens Europe’s political stance in relation to Russia (5]
• Brexit would slow the regional and global advance of human rights and common cultural values [5]
• Brexit strengthens the cultural identity of the UK [4]
• Brexit weakens the military influence of the UK [5]
• Brexit would lead to the dissolution of the European Union (4)
• Brexit would lead to German hegemony in Europe (7)

Middle England’s average is 4.85, marginally for Brexit.

It’s going to be close.

But that’s looking at it largely from a British point of view. What’s very clear to me is that Brexit would be a disaster for the European Union. Frankly, I think that matters enormously, but I live in Prague in Middle Europe, not in Middle England.