Ross Clark

He knows that the whole future of the EU rests on its people believing that we have made a terrible mistake to exit the EU.

He and the rest of the EU’s unelected politburo have tried their best to insulate themselves from the views of Europe’s ordinary people but finally they are coming to face their Ceausescu moment – the day in 1989 when the former Romanian dictator suddenly realised to his horror that the people outside his palace were not an admiring crowd.

With even French presidential candidate and EUenthusiast Emmanuel Macron now attacking the “dysfunction” of the EU it is clear that there is huge dissent towards the EU leadership. Britain is the only country to vote to leave not because we are wildly more Eurosceptic than others but because we are the only country to have had an in-out referendum. That could change rapidly, however, were Marine Le Pen to be elected French president next Sunday.

Juncker thinks by talking tough with Britain he can bring Europe together. The trouble is that what he is arguing for – Britain to be shut out of European markets unless it agrees to pay a huge “divorce” bill – is directly against the interests of many EU workers.

Last month the think tank Civitas concluded that while 3.6 million people in Britain work for companies which export goods and services to other EU countries, they are dwarfed by the 5.8 million people in other EU countries which work for companies exporting goods and services to Britain.

I still think that Juncker is full of bluster – that when negotiations start for real he and his colleagues will adopt a more responsible attitude. If he doesn’t, powerful lobbies such as the German car industry are going to make quite clear what they think. They are not going to sit by and watch as tariffs are imposed on Volkswagens and BMWs.

But if Juncker really does mean what he says and is prepared to block free trade between Britain and the EU, all he will achieve is to help bring about what he fears most: the creation of a bullish, freetrading Britain on the EU’s doorstep. Post-Brexit, the EU will be stuck with the same structure it has now. It still won’t be able to sign a trade deal without gaining the agreement of every regional assembly from Belgium to Bulgaria.

BRITAIN will be free to do what deals it can with the rest of the world and to do so far more quickly than we can while tied to 27 other countries. If barriers go up between Dover and Calais we will have even more incentive to seek opportunities with the US and the fastgrowing economies of Asia.

Juncker’s crass remark that he had an “excellent dinner” at Downing Street and that he “wasn’t talking about the food” sums up the arrogance of the EU’s leaders. They see themselves as defending a high European civilisation that Britain, with its lousy food, has never been fully a part of.

If Theresa May is minded to invite him again she should serve him a banquet of the best food from China, India, Brazil, Australia and all those other countries whose products might, if the EU is determined to start a trade war, soon be replacing EU produce on British dinner plates. If it doesn’t satisfy his taste buds it might at least concentrate his mind.

‘Its workers rely on British business’