As letters go, it was punchier than most. Sent to party chairman Brandon Lewis, it formed part of an irate postbag received by Conservative central office after one of the most tumultuous weeks in the party’s 184-year history.

Yet for once the highly critical correspondence was not from Momentum thugs or UKIP headbangers but the Tories’ own members.

Summing up the mood among the Conservative grassroots, Councillor Bob Perry - who has spent nearly half a century working as a party activist - spelled it out for Mr Lewis.

Describing the withdrawal agreement as a “bad deal”, the chairman of the Hornchurch and Upminster Conservative Association, wrote:

"As Chairman to Chairman and as a committed Conservative supporter, voter and hard working activist over the last 44 years, I have to say with a heavy heart, that if Brexit is not delivered as per the vote of 17.4m people in the referendum I would find it extremely difficult to remain part of a party that is hell-bent on reversing the will of the British people. I fear that if the party does not change direction, get behind Brexit and leave the EU as intended, the party I have dedicated my life to will be consigned to the history books as the party that denied democracy."

Warning that the British public would “never forgive us for that heinous act of betrayal,” he added in angry capitals:

"They did NOT vote for a DEAL, they voted to LEAVE, if we fail to deliver that the Conservative Party will sentence itself to political oblivion for generations to come. We have survived the no confidence vote but we will not survive the betrayal."

The letter, like many similar angry missives dashed off from associations since Tuesday night’s humiliating drubbing, strikes at the heart of the growing schism between Tory high command and the party faithful. Once described as “the biggest marriage bureau in the western world” with more than a million members under Margaret Thatcher, part of the problem stems from Conservative ranks halving under David Cameron - who famously once described activists as “mad, swivel-eyed loons”.