Theresa May said almost nothing. Only the look on her face revealed the prime minister’s feelings as one after another of a select group of her ministers lined up to denounce the Brexit deal her team had been negotiating with Brussels. Sajid Javid, the home secretary, borrowed the vintage US political insult about putting “lipstick on a pig” and called the plan little better than “third country status with lipstick on it”.

Those who were there say May allowed herself a look of surprise when Jeremy Hunt, the foreign secretary, spoke against a proposal from Brussels for a “backstop” deal that would see Britain join a customs union in perpetuity. Hunt, along with Javid, Liam Fox and Gavin Williamson and the Brexit secretary, Dominic Raab,