Boris Johnson expressed the sense of betrayal felt by ordinary Leavers

Mrs May reneged on her promise to voters, and they are rightly angry. But there is still time to save Brexit

It is not too late to save Brexit: Boris Johnson’s powerful and statesmanlike resignation speech was exactly what Tory Brexiteers needed to hear, and will at the very least finish off Theresa May’s disastrous Chequers policy. She was still acting as if nothing had changed yesterday, but in fact everything has, and spectacularly so.

Ever since their victory two years ago went so terribly awry, Brexiteers have been desperately searching for a leader who can articulate their message. Now, at last, Boris is back. His speech was serious and to the point, didn’t directly seek to unseat May and yet was ferocious in its demolition not just of her appalling “half in, half out” Chequers proposal but also of her inability even to try to negotiate a proper free trade deal with the EU. Unlike Michael Gove, Johnson understands that this is the only chance: it won’t be possible to reopen a “botched” treaty in 18 months’ time. Whether or not Johnson ends up being the man to rescue us from the Government’s catastrophic errors, at least Brexiteers have regained not just a voice but also a conscience.

The biggest story of the past few days is that the Remainers, emboldened by the Government’s dysfunctionality, have over-reached: they thought that they could finish off the Brexiteers at Chequers, but have instead unleashed the latter’s greatest counter-offensive since the referendum. It’s not just the re-emergence of Johnson and the radicalisation of the European Research Group that have killed off Chequers: the public backlash from grass-roots Brexiteers is on a gigantic scale. Around one in 10 of those voters who previously planned to vote Tory have switched to Ukip since the announcement. This is a massive realignment, an electoral earthquake comparable to May’s loss of support following her bungled manifesto.

Had the Remainers moved more cautiously and taken their time, Johnson, David Davis, Steve Baker and the others would still be in government, the public would still be assuming that all was proceeding as promised and Britain would be on course for a Brexit in Name Only. So why did they underestimate the Brexiteers?

Ultra-remainers have proved unwilling or unable to understand what genuinely motivates grassroots Leavers, and as a result keep on misreading them. This failure of imagination and lack of emotional intelligence is the Remainers’ greatest weakness. It is the reason they lost the referendum and why their latest move has backfired, finally goading Davis, and then Johnson, into action. It is also why ordinary Leave voters, tired of endless provocations, are becoming ever more hardcore, and why what little trust they still had in Britain’s battered political institutions is draining away.

Too many ultra-remainers think that those who voted Leave suffered from “false consciousness”, that they were duped, manipulated or conned, that they will eventually tire of the exercise and roll over, and that a Brexit in Name Only – or even pretending that the referendum never actually happened – would allow the natural order to be re-established. This is delusional nonsense, the kind of attitude that would have been prevalent in the court of Louis XVI after the Bastille was taken; tragically, it is also the advice that May has been receiving since she sidelined her Cabinet Brexiteers and entrusted her entire strategy to the civil service.

Hence the debacle that was Chequers: the Remainers thought that they could pull the wool over the Brexiteers’ eyes, that nobody cared about the Tory manifesto and the Prime Minister’s repeated promises, that voters had no interest in who regulates goods or how we structure our customs arrangements.

They were right that some Cabinet ministers would do anything to retain their chauffeur-driven cars; but they failed to see that others would be genuinely principled. They also forgot about the real audience, the only one that matters: the country, and especially the overwhelming majority of 2017 Tory voters who voted to leave the EU. The simple reality is that grassroots Brexiteers will not tolerate a deal that concedes vast amounts of power to the EU. They would wholeheartedly agree with Johnson’s speech, and only switched from Ukip because they thought the Government would deliver on the referendum.

They are incensed at the establishment’s refusal to accept Brexit, and no longer trust the Prime Minister’s assurances that it is safe in her hands. There is a new, deeply regrettable narrative emerging: grass-roots Brexiteers believe they are being betrayed by the establishment and Mrs May, and their fury will be as far-reaching as that which followed the MPS’ expenses scandal.

Yet the kamikaze wing of the Tory Remainers is intensifying its campaign, regardless of whether it takes the party down with it. Several leading lights have called for the referendum to be cancelled after the Vote Leave campaign was fined, even though the Remain side spent vastly more. Anna Soubry, the Tory MP, went even further: she wants a government of national unity made up of Remainers across the parties; in effect, a coup by MPS to thwart the voters.

So what now? The only way that a Chequers-style deal – in practice, one that will be laced with even more compromise – can get through Parliament would indeed be through an alliance of Remainers. That would destroy Mrs May, break both parties, take Ukip to 25 per cent in the polls and unleash chaos. It won’t happen: Chequers is dead, thanks to Johnson and to the electorate rebelling.

The other alternative – a no deal Brexit – won’t command support in Parliament either; the MPS would try to delay Brexit instead.

The only way forward is to follow the course of action advocated by Johnson: a complete reset, followed by a proper, robust attempt at negotiating a “Canada-plus” style of agreement of the sort that was being worked on by the Department for Exiting the European Union before the Remainer putsch. With a different negotiating strategy and proper leadership, such an outcome is plausible; we would still need a transition, as well as a radically changed, pro-growth economic policy to iron out the bumps in the road. If Labour Brexiteers are wooed properly, and even if 25 or so Tories rebel, such a deal could pass Parliament: it is the only sort of outcome that the Leave grass roots would accept. The choice for Remainer MPS would be that, or total, uncontrollable chaos.

Johnson is right: there is still time to save Brexit, but it requires an urgent and complete U-turn from May. The only real political question this summer is whether she has it in her.