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Theresa May emerged from church clutching a box of a dozen eggs. What did she mean by that? The message, as usual was cryptic. Quite a lot of people would like to throw eggs at her. “Bring

it on,” she seemed to imply. Or was it: “You can’t make a Brexit without breaking eggs.” The Prime Minister was smiling, again as usual, but she hasn’t given her party much to smile about.

The latest YouGov poll for the European elections has the Conservatives now in fifth place, below the Greens and out of sight of the Brexit Party. If the results next week are anything like

as bad, it won’t only be the Prime Minister who has egg on her face. The oldest and most successful political party in the world is facing annihilation at the hands of Nigel Farage’s one-man

band. Tories are exhibiting the usual signs of distress: ministers briefing against the talks with Labour ahead of another stormy Cabinet tomorrow, another 1922 Committee meeting demanding

a leadership contest, and a growing chorus at every level calling for the Prime Minister to resign. She will, also as usual, ignore them all. For her, there is no way back. Assuming that

Labour has no serious intention of striking a cross-party deal, Mrs May has no choice now but to press on with her forlorn attempt to get the promised Withdrawal Bill past the House of

Commons. Nobody believes this is likely to happen. Indeed, it is seen by many as tantamount to rearranging deckchairs on the Titanic. Meanwhile, even erstwhile May loyalists are manning the

lifeboats. The captain must go down with her ship — but the crew is on the verge of mutiny. Panic is never a good strategy, however, not least because it tends to be infectious. Over the

weekend the Sunday Times claimed that an unprecedented number of the very rich are preparing to move themselves and their assets out of the country in anticipation of a Labour government.

Other reports suggest that the exodus of the wealthy has already begun, prompted less by fear of Corbyn or anxiety about Brexit than by disgust at the way the country is being run. The

British establishment has lost the confidence, not only of the people but also of the plutocrats. And the latter are voting with their private planes. Elsewhere, it seems that the centre

cannot hold. Nigel Farage rages against the BBC, which he has now declared is “the enemy”. At his Trump-style rallies, which he complains are ignored by the “fake news” mainstream media,

when Mrs May’s name is mentioned the crowds roar: “Lock her up!” Meanwhile, a pro-Palestinian rally in London that had the blessing of the Labour leadership heard a chilling “warning to the

Jewish leadership” from a Corbyn loyalist, Glyn Secker, not to make allegations of anti-Semitism against the Left: “You are part of the problem.” Amid the sound and fury, one person has

remained icily calm: Jeremy Corbyn. He doesn’t seem concerned that Tom Watson is openly threatening a coup if Labour does not explicitly commit itself to a second referendum. Nor does he

mind that Labour’s support is down to 16 per cent, less than half that of the Brexit Party. Corbyn doesn’t care about the European Parliament. He supports Brexit, but only as a means to an

end. For him, only one thing really counts: the general election. A surge of support for the Brexit Party, or whatever it calls itself by then, would probably harm the Tories more than

Labour. And any means that result in a Labour government are justified. Nigel Farage is riding high because he has all the best lines. He and his improvised Brexit Party are making the

Tories look like Dad’s Army. But the right question is: cui bono? Who benefits? If they succeed in destroying the Conservative Party, it is unlikely to be the Faragists who inherit the

kingdom. Far more likely, it will be Corbyn’s comrades.