2016 has been a year where jumping to insane and irrational conclusions has been all the rage across Britain and indeed it appears, the western world. There appears to be a craving for high impact, aggressive responses to anything that is complex.

The recent bout of industrial action is an example in point. Now, I am occasionally at odds with unions in my own business and sometimes they do seem to have too much power. However, without them, wages collapse, rights disappear and public safety can be at risk, particularly on trains.

For what? Bigger payouts for shareholders made up of individuals who wrecked the economy and are making the workers pay the price?

Another example are the awful attacks in Berlin that have now started yet more widespread vilification of 1.6 billion Muslims. With that number in their ranks, don’t you think that maybe, just maybe, if all Muslims were ISIS fanatics, they might have caused a bit more damage than they have?

A better question might be…how did ISIS evolve? However, it is a complex question, and the answer may be closer to home than we like, so we go for the easy answer. Blame refugees.

Even in our recreational or sporting activities there is instant venom. Gary Lineker, a guy who has made a successful transition into the media after carrying the England football team through a couple of World Cups, is suddenly the enemy of the right-wing press.

For what?

Making a light-hearted joke about Brexit voters who are still seething about winning the referendum. Imagine winning the World Cup or an Olympic Gold medal with that attitude.

“WE WON THE FUCKING WORLD CUP, SHUT UP, GET OVER IT, I’M NOT FUCKING LISTENING TO YOU FUCKING RUNNERUPPERMOANERS!!!’

Forget the Golden Boot in Mexico or the equaliser against Germany in 1990, Gary Lineker is now a left-wing, champagne loving, luvvie duvvie, BBC darling.

Lineker: Luvie Duvvie Remoaning Bastard

As for Andy Murray…how dare a Scottish bloke (who once joked that he wanted England to lose a football game) win a sportsman of the year award! Yeah, okay, he has won 44 titles, two Olympic gold medals, two Wimbledon’s, the USA open and the ATP final to finish 2016 as world number one, but when he was 19 he made a joke angry people couldn’t take, so he deserves nothing.

There are two sides to every industrial dispute, there are complex geopolitical reasons why terrorists evolve and there are arguments for and against the European Union and the single market, in my opinion mainly for, but I may be missing something as the cost of it becomes apparent.

However, we are now in an era where facts and detail are not relevant and the answers to every complex question are reactionary, vitriolic and without substance.

An era when an ex-footballer can’t make a joke on a satirical quiz show.

How did we get to this?