FOR as long as I’ve written these columns, I’ve found myself regularly surprised at how quickly they come round. Often, this leads to minor panic a week before they’re due, as I think back about what has annoyed or overjoyed me enough in the last month to write about.

With all the news that’s happened in the last week then, this month’s column shouldn’t be a problem and I will write 700 words, they will be filed on time, and they will be the best I’ve ever written*.

First things first then. I didn’t want to write about the referendum this week, as a) it seemed too obvious a topic, and b) there’s nothing I can write that hasn’t been said more intelligently or humorously elsewhere. However, it’s happened now, and we can’t ignore it, so here goes.

(*Enough time has passed now to allow me to address the outlandish claims above. Yes, I may have submitted too many words, yes, they may have been filed slightly late, and no, they were not the best I’ve ever written - saved you a job there, comments section - but I never actually said those things out loud, and they were “just a series of possibilities”. At least I didn’t write them in massive letters on the side of a bus.)

Next up, the meltdown of the main political parties in our country.

It occurred to me, after I watched David Cameron’s sort-of resignation speech that, come October, we will have the third Prime Minister in ten years who wasn’t selected by the public after leading their party to victory. Brown shuffled into Number 10 as Blair’s star was falling in 2007, Cameron was forced to cosy up to Nick Clegg to take the big seat in 2010, and in a couple of months we will have... well, someone else.

Meanwhile, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn seems to be doing absolutely everything he can to cling onto his position, but although he appears to have lost the support of most of his shadow cabinet, the people who actually voted him in look like they’re in favour of him staying on.

I get that the public vote for parties and not individuals, so none of this should be an issue. I also understand that many politicians are out to do what’s best for the people, and there’s a chance whoever ends up in power will be one of those people. However, by the way both parties - and one odious unelected buffoon - have behaved over the last few months, I find it difficult to believe that any of the senior figures want what’s best for the country, rather what’s best for their careers or public profile.

Next up then, the football. I don’t suppose we can forget that crushing defeat at the hands of the mighty Iceland any longer, even though the multimillionaire athletes who were on the pitch embarrassingly seemed to forget they were in the middle of a match. Roy Hodgson quickly made the decision to hand in his notice following the shambles, and must now commiserate himself with the millions he’s earned for doing nothing of consequence for the last few years.

Just time then for the things that have actually made me smile this week. Shouldn’t take too long, but here goes. The police officers proposing to their partners during London’s Pride parade was fantastic, and it’s nice to see displays of love in amongst the hatred and bigotry that seems to have flooded the country recently.

Also, the tweet by Conservative MP Justine Greening announcing she was in a same-sex relationship was an unexpected but happy blip on my newsfeed last weekend. Naturally, it’s absolutely none of our business, but the support shown to her following her announcement that “I campaigned for Stronger In but sometimes you’re better off out”, was genuinely heartwarming.

So too was the tribute at Glastonbury to young band Viola Beach, whose four members died along with their manager in a crash while on tour in February. Whatever you think of Chris Martin et al (and I’m not particularly fond), Coldplay’s performance of the band’s Boys That Sing in front of 100,000 people and millions at home was a touching moment.

It’s so easy to be cynical (see about 530 of the above words), but that doesn’t make the world better. Martin said Viola Beach reminded them of “the excitement and the joy and the hope” that young up-and-comers share, and maybe that’s what we need to try to harness in these uncertain times.