The cabinet meets this morning as the tide seems to be turning in Theresa May’s favour. The hard Brexiteers’ tactic has blown up in their faces. They urged the prime minister to step up preparations for leaving the EU without a deal, to convince the EU that we would be prepared to walk away from the talks if we don’t get what we want.

Instead, those preparations succeeded only in frightening the living daylights out of the British public, which might help persuade them that any deal would be better than stockpiling medicines and lorries queueing from Dover to Birmingham.

Today’s special cabinet meeting on no-deal preparations will only intensify this new version of project fear – a project made all the more credible by being based on taking sensible precautions in case the Brexit talks collapse in failure.

Hence the problems faced by Dominic Raab, the Brexit secretary, as he was sent out to face the BBC this morning. He was one of those demanding more planning for no deal to strengthen our bargaining position, and now he is trying to reassure us that our mobile roaming charges will still be cheap after Brexit, but many of the 28 papers to be published today are likely to contain some alarming scenarios.

Boris Johnson 'suicide vest' Brexit jibe causes Tory divide Show all 14 1 /14 Boris Johnson 'suicide vest' Brexit jibe causes Tory divide Boris Johnson 'suicide vest' Brexit jibe causes Tory divide Internal divisions in the Conservative Party have exploded into a bitter public row over Boris Johnson‘s “disgusting” criticism of Theresa May. Some senior Tories furiously denounced the former foreign secretary after he accused the prime minister of having ”wrapped a suicide vest” around Britain Reuters Boris Johnson 'suicide vest' Brexit jibe causes Tory divide Sajid Javid, Home secretary Sajid Javid, the home secretary, rebuked his former cabinet colleague and said: “I think there are much better ways to articulate your differences.” He told the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show that the public wanted politicians to use “measured language” BBC/PA Boris Johnson 'suicide vest' Brexit jibe causes Tory divide But other MPs leapt to Mr Johnson’s defence, as dividing lines ahead of a possible leadership contest begin to take shape. The Uxbridge MP has repeatedly criticised Ms May’s Chequers plan and used a newspaper article on Sunday to suggest it amounted to “wrapping a suicide vest around the British constitution”. His latest salvo at the prime minister prompted immediate condemnation, with one minister publicly vowing to end Mr Johnson’s career over the matter PA Boris Johnson 'suicide vest' Brexit jibe causes Tory divide Alan Duncan, Foreign minister Alan Duncan, a foreign minister who worked in Mr Johnson’s team for two years, wrote on Twitter: “For Boris to say the PM’s view is like that of a suicide bomber is too much. This marks one of the most disgusting moments in modern British politics. “I’m sorry, but this is the political end of Boris Johnson. If it isn’t now, I will make sure it is later.” Getty Boris Johnson 'suicide vest' Brexit jibe causes Tory divide James Brokenshire, Housing secretary Housing secretary James Brokenshire added his voice to the criticism, calling Mr Johnson’s comments ”wrong” He said: “I think he is wrong on this...I think the tone that he has used isn’t right and I think that we just need to be very focused on actually moving forward with the Chequers plan.” AFP/Getty Boris Johnson 'suicide vest' Brexit jibe causes Tory divide Zac Goldsmith But as Tory hostilities spilled over into open public warfare, Richmond Park MP Zac Goldsmith, an ally of Mr Johnson, hit back at Mr Duncan. He wrote: “There are a number of possible motives behind this tweet, but given its author, we can be certain ‘principles’ aren’t one of them.” Getty Boris Johnson 'suicide vest' Brexit jibe causes Tory divide Jacob Rees-Mogg Senior Tory Brexiteer Jacob Rees-Mogg told The Independent he thought Mr Johnson’s “suicide belt” accusation was little more than “a characteristically colourful catchphrase”. He added: “I agree with the sentiment. The criticism of Boris’s wording merely serves to highlight his point. It means more people hear of Boris’s criticism of Chequers and many will agree with him.” Reuters Boris Johnson 'suicide vest' Brexit jibe causes Tory divide Nadine Dorries Nadine Dorries, another Brexit supporter, said Mr Johnson’s opponents were “terrified of his popular appeal”, adding: “Don’t underestimate the vitriol that’ll be directed towards Boris today. He delivered the Leave vote, Remainers and wannabe future PMs hate him.” If Mr Johnson became leader and prime minister he would deliver a “clean and prosperous” Brexit, she said Rex Boris Johnson 'suicide vest' Brexit jibe causes Tory divide Andrew Bridgen Andrew Bridgen said Ms May was to blame for her leadership problems. Asked if Mr Johnson had put a bomb under her leadership, Mr Bridgen said: “I think that Theresa May did that herself when she put forward the Chequers proposals without consulting widely prior to that.” Boris Johnson 'suicide vest' Brexit jibe causes Tory divide Steve Baker, former Brexit minister Steve Baker, the former Brexit minister, warned Ms May the Conservatives faced a "catastrophic split" if she did not jettison her Chequers plan. Mr Baker, who quit the government in July over the scheme, said: “When negotiating, the prime minister needs to demonstrate her intent and also her power to deliver. "If we come out of conference with her hoping to get Chequers through on the back of Labour votes, I think the EU negotiators would probably understand that if that were done, the Tory party would suffer the catastrophic split which thus far we have managed to avoid.” But he insisted he did not want a change in the Conservative leadership, saying Brexiteers did “not want to be in a position of conflict with our own prime minister” Reuters Boris Johnson 'suicide vest' Brexit jibe causes Tory divide Tom Tugendhat The deep divisions on the Tory benches were laid bare as Tom Tugendhat, who chairs the Commons foreign affairs committee and is a possible leadership rival to Mr Johnson, also hit out at the former foreign secretary. Recalling how he encountered a suicide bomber in Afghanistan during his time in the army, Mr Tugendhat told Mr Johnson to “grow up”. He said: “A suicide bomber murdered many in the courtyard of my office in Helmand. The carnage was disgusting, limbs and flesh hanging from trees and bushes. Brave men who stopped him killing me and others died in horrific pain. “Some need to grow up. Comparing the PM to that isn’t happy.” PA Boris Johnson 'suicide vest' Brexit jibe causes Tory divide Alistair Burt Alistair Burt, another Foreign Office minister who worked in Mr Johnson’s team, said: “I’m stunned at the nature of this attack. There is no justification for such an outrageous, inappropriate and hurtful analogy. “If we don’t stop his extraordinary use of language over Brexit, our country might never heal. Again, I say, enough.” AFP/Getty Boris Johnson 'suicide vest' Brexit jibe causes Tory divide It comes amid that Ms May’s former aides drew up a dossier on Mr Johnson’s sexual encounters with the aim of undermining his leadership prospects. The document was compiled in 2016, when the Uxbridge and South Ruislip MP was seen as the main rival to Ms May in her bid to enter No 10. Downing Street and Conservative Campaign Headquaters (CCHQ) both denied having leaked the 4,000 word memo after it was circulated around Westminster AFP/Getty Boris Johnson 'suicide vest' Brexit jibe causes Tory divide Mr Johnson confirmed that his 25-year marriage to wife Marina had ended AP

As we approach the final phase of the negotiations, the horrors of a no-deal Brexit will concentrate minds. Mostly British minds, but it will concentrate EU27 minds too. No deal would be worse for us (and the Irish), but it would be bad for others too.

More relevant for the EU27 is Britain’s threat to walk away with our £36bn exit fee, which Theresa May repeated at Prime Minister’s Questions yesterday. Her words were hard to interpret, because she started by saying, “We are a country that honours our obligations,” which is code for, “We’ll pay up.” But she went on to say, “Nothing is agreed until everything is agreed; without a deal, the position changes,” which is code for, “No deal, no money.” Raab made it more explicit on the Today programme this morning: our payment would be “significantly, substantially lower” than the £36bn provisionally agreed.

This is merely a statement of the obvious: a large chunk of the £36bn is our subscription for membership of the single market, which would continue during the transition period to the end of 2020 if there is a deal. If there isn’t a deal, we won’t pay a subscription. It’s obvious, but has to be phrased tactfully. So there may be a deal to be had.

We cannot read too much into what Michel Barnier, the EU negotiator, or Jean-Claude Juncker, the EU Commission president, or Emmanuel Macron, the French president, say. On alternate days, the British media run headlines saying they are prepared to offer us a deal “like no other” (of course it would be: no country has ever left the EU before), or that the four freedoms of the EU single market are “sacrosanct”. I’m not sure which it is today, but none of it means much until the negotiations hit the compromise zone.

UK will reject any EU offer of a 'blind Brexit', says Philip Hammond

Then, Theresa May might manage to negotiate a deal. Goodness knows what it would be but as Charles Grant, an informed Brussels-watcher, pointed out yesterday it may well include elements of the Chequers plan that the European Rebellion Group of Tory MPs dislike so much.

But today’s no-deal planning, for which they agitated so much, will be critical in winning the argument against them. In the end, if there is a deal, almost regardless of what it is, I think the House of Commons and the European Parliament will vote for it.