Dr John is in the house to dispense a bitter pill

It’s now 25 years since Sir John Major railed against the Eurosceptic “bastards” in his party for undermining their Prime Minister over Europe. How times change. Today, the so-called “bastards” are in charge – and it’s Sir John who’s undermining a Tory Prime Minister over Europe.

Sir John, of course, would deny that he’s doing any such thing. He might add that, unlike his “bastards” from 1993, he is not a minister or an MP; he is bound neither by collective responsibility, nor by party whips. All the same, it’s hard to see how else to interpret the extraordinary speech he gave in London yesterday.

Here was a former Tory leader publicly eviscerating the decisions of the current Tory leader, the words of Tory ministers, and the central policy of a Tory Government.

This was, in short, a savaging. A quiet savaging, a polite savaging, almost at times an apologetic savaging. But a savaging none the less.

Sir John insisted that he took “no pleasure” in “speaking out”. He claimed that it was “not my purpose to stir controversy”. And he didn’t identify his targets by name. Yet they were so obvious, he might as well have done.

He declared that he was “rather in favour of experts” (a blatant dig at Michael Gove); he noted that, when it came to the Brexit divorce bill, “Europe didn’t even have to purse her lips to whistle” (a blatant dig at Boris Johnson); and he recalled that, rather than turning into “the fight of the summer”, the opening negotiations had prompted an “immediate British retreat” (a blatant dig at David Davis).

Then, for good measure, Sir John suggested that if Labour had “almost any other leader”, they’d be “15 to 20 points ahead” of the Tories. Not exactly the biggest vote of confidence in Theresa May.

This was not, to be clear, a rant. Sir John does not rant. He does not raise his voice. He exudes, as ever, the air of a long-suffering teacher, trying in vain to draw his class’s attention to the board, while all around him children giggle over doodles, toy with their phones, and barely bother to lower their voices. And there remains something endearingly awkward about his phrasing. MPS, implored Sir John (twice), must consider “the well-being of the people”. He sounded like a doctor prescribing a course of ginseng, or vitamin D.

A journalist asked whether he’d thought about quitting the Tory party.

“I have been in the party a good deal longer than most people,” replied Sir John, steadily. “A good deal longer than most of the people who are really undermining the Prime Minister, by telling her what she must negotiate or they’ll withdraw their support in Parliament.”

He had, he added, “no intention” of quitting. No doubt he meant it.

But if the Tories keep tearing each other apart over Europe like this, I begin to wonder how much longer there will be a party to quit.