THEY say revenge is a dish best served cold. It is also, of course, particularly potent when the recipient is wounded and weak, as Theresa May now knows only too well.

The fact that former Chancellor George Osborne and Mrs May were never bosom buddies when they served together in David Cameron’s Cabinet probably doesn’t come as much of a surprise. Despite this, many commentators are surprised at the ferocity with which Mr Osborne is choosing to put the boot into his former colleague through the editorial pages of the newspaper he now edits, the Evening Standard.

Mr Osborne’s latest dish of chilled retribution came in the form of the revelation that in the days after the Brexit vote Mrs May single-handedly blocked a plan drawn up by David Cameron to unilaterally give European Union citizens living in the UK the right to remain. Such a move would have instantly spared all three million of them the trauma and uncertainty they have endured since, not to mention the stress and humiliation of being used as a pawn in a high-stakes game that Britain is on course to lose.

With friends like Mr Osborne, who needs enemies, eh? The downright ruthlessness of the Tories is often the subject of gossip among politicos of all persuasions. But in this bizarre, uncertain climate where the gloves are well and truly off, I can’t help but think the former Chancellor perhaps had a nobler purpose in mind when he spilled the beans on the EU citizens plan. Could it be that he genuinely wants to save Britain from a disastrous hard Brexit and is simply using every means necessary - including his own admittedly ridiculous editorship of a newspaper - to make life difficult for the PM so she’ll get chucked out sooner by her own party?

Whatever the motive, Mr Osborne’s intervention succeeded in making a Prime Minister whose reputation as an aloof and distant robot is already damaging her leadership look even more cruel.

Mrs May perhaps thought she was playing a trump card when she made the announcement that EU citizens would be given a “fair and serious” opportunity to build up the same rights to work and access healthcare and benefits as UK citizens. Under the plan, those who have lived here for more than five years would automatically be able to apply for “settled status”, with a grace period – mooted at up to two years - to be agreed for those who arrive before Brexit allegedly happens in March 2019. She was keen to stress all this would only apply if the EU makes the same guarantees to UK citizens living in Europe.

When making the offer, Mrs May used the sort of mock humble tone that suggested she had just personally saved a litter of puppies from drowning. We were all clearly supposed to be bowled over by the generosity of it all. Sadly for the PM, however, our European cousins did not fall to their knees in gratitude and offer a tariff-free trade deal in return. Indeed, EU president Donald Tusk said the offer actually threatened to worsen the situation of EU citizens in the UK, while German Chancellor Angela Merkel described it as “no breakthrough”.

And it’s no wonder, since a plethora of questions remain about the medium to longer-term status of EU citizens under the proposal, even those who fall into the five-year category, never mind those who don’t. What if they want to bring their sick parents to the UK to live? Which courts will have jurisdiction over decisions affecting them if the UK leaves the European Court of Justice? And what would any such deal mean for the tens of thousands of Irish citizens living in the UK? Many experts believe their current status is based purely on EU law that will no longer apply after Brexit.

I spoke to a number of friends from EU countries who live in Scotland over the weekend and not a single one was reassured by Mrs May’s offer. Indeed, my chums - two doctors, a nurse and a research scientist - all of whom have chosen to work in our public services and universities, to contribute to the life and health of our country, are still weighing up their options carefully and wearily, still hurting and suspicious at the rude, pompous and unwelcoming rhetoric that continues to spew from the mouths of many Brexiters.

Should they and their fellow 170,000 EU citizens in Scotland choose to leave after Brexit, our country will not only be a sadder place, but as these pages have highlighted in the last few months, public services such as health and social care will be plunged into crisis. I really hope they choose to stay - but I wouldn’t blame them if they didn’t.

Just one week into the Brexit talks, Mrs May has shown her herself to be totally out of touch with how these negotiations will need to be conducted if a “good” Brexit – i.e. one that doesn’t trash the economy - is to be achieved. The PM could have chosen to open proceedings with a unilateral and magnanimous offer to all EU citizens – similar to Mr Cameron’s – that would have signalled a willingness to be bold and pragmatic. Instead, the atmosphere around this cold fish Prime Minister just got even chillier. One day it might freeze over completely.