Of all the low-down dirty tricks. On a day of energy-sapping heat at the Chequers “Brexit showdown”, the prime minister ordered for her assembled cabinet beef fillet followed by bread-and-butter pudding. Carefully disguised as patriotic British fare, this is the sort of menu that in such weather would stun any diner into somnolent acquiescence.

But then Downing Street had already softened up the minority of former “leave” campaigners by authorising a remarkable public statement from a “government source” declaring that “it will be a long walk down a mile-long driveway” for those who “can’t face making the right decision for the country”.

The point is that the second you resign, you no longer have the government car that swept you down that drive to the