SO Brexit came to Warrington last week in all its snarling ferocity.

Not only did we have the unedifying sight of punches – and milkshakes – being thrown in the street as MEP candidate Tommy Robinson and his friends brought their own, singular campaigning style to Market Gate, we also had Question Time broadcast from the Pyramid in the town.

On the panel were former Chancellor Ken Clarke, shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry, comedian Simon Evans, Sonia Sodha, of the Observer and Guardian and Kate Andrews, from the Institute of Economic Affairs.

I used to be a massive fan of Question Time but to be honest, I’ve gone off it over the past year or so.

What I want to see is intelligent debate about the most important topics of the day with sensible questions from the audience.

But sadly, what we’ve been treated to recently has been braying, pro-Brexit mobs shouting down any reasonable discussion or views that run counter to their own.

But I thought I’d give the show a second chance last week given it was coming from my home town. (Apropos of nothing, I actually applied to be in the audience and I had my questions all lined up but sadly I wasn’t selected. I wonder if it had anything to do with the fact I indicated I was a ‘Remainer’ on the application form.)

Anyway on to the show itself.

The highlight – if highlight is the right word – was the very angry women who talked over Ken Clarke, telling the politicians to just get on with Brexit, that the Irish border issue isn’t a problem because we can just give Northern Ireland back to the Irish. Oh, and Scotland can go as well.

This despite the fact both Sonia Sodha and Ken Clarke had patiently explained all the problems associated with the Irish border.

I could get all sarcastic about the angry woman at this point but I won’t. I think a little history lesson is more appropriate.

At the heart of the issue is the Good Friday Agreement, also known as the Belfast Agreement, and is the legally binding international treaty that effectively ended ‘The Troubles’ in Northern Ireland.

It established a devolved power-sharing administration and created new institutions for cross-border cooperation and structures for improved relations between the British and Irish governments.

It was approved by referendums in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland in 1998 and was incorporated into British and Irish constitutional law and other areas of legislation.

So if we ‘just leave’ on WTO terms or any other arrangement or deal that doesn’t include a customs union, single market and free movement of people, the inevitable consequence will be a so-called hard border with checkpoints, border posts an all the other infrastructure that goes with it.

We, as a country, will have reneged on an international treaty and in effect will have turned us into a rogue state.

And as it stands at the moment, there is no technology available that can replace border checks infrastructure, nor is any likely in the foreseeable future.

Don’t believe me?

How about believing Northern Ireland’s most senior police officer?

According to the BBC, Northern Ireland’s Chief Constable, George Hamilton, has repeatedly said that a hard border would be damaging for the wider peace process and any new border infrastructure would be seen as ‘fair game’ for attack by dissident republicans.

So I would say to the angry women on Question Time, and all the other audience members who applauded her so enthusiastically, you may desperately want your hard Brexit, but frankly you can’t have it and you never could, despite what mendacious politicians may have told you.