Watch it, Mr Juncker, we pay your bills!
THIS was the week the mask slipped, as Eurocrats gave up any pretence of fighting for the interests of the 500million they pretend to represent.
Indeed, they made it clearer than ever that all they care about in the Brexit talks is the survival of their all-expenses-paid, brandy-for-breakfast, red tape factory in Brussels.
Far from standing up for the peoples of Europe – millions of whom depend on British markets for their livelihoods – they even showed themselves willing to risk lives in their campaign to punish Britain for leaving, and discourage others from following suit.
Hence the threat by Jean-Claude Juncker’s German henchman, Martin Selmayr, to weaken security co-operation after Brexit and deny us full access to the EU’s Galileo satellite project.
Leave aside that the programme has been substantially financed by British taxpayers, this threat betrays millions who rely on our world-beating GCHQ to protect them.
Adding insult to injury, Brussels now accuses Britain of ‘chasing a fantasy’ in seeking a comprehensive Brexit deal, while loftily dismissing our demand for a £1.2billion refund on our Galileo investment. It warns: ‘The EU doesn’t negotiate under threat.’
We’ll see about that. Indeed, if one good thing has come from the Eurocrats’ descent into vindictive abuse, it has spurred the supine Chancellor Philip Hammond and Whitehall’s Olly Robbins to speak out.
Meanwhile, Europe’s elected governments are increasingly exasperated by Brussels’s refusal to yield ground in the talks.
They see a continent in desperate trouble, with growing unrest over open borders, rampant unemployment and economies laid waste by the one-size-fits-all euro. They know that without a good trade deal after Brexit, their problems can only multiply.
Indeed, the time has surely come for our negotiators to take the gloves off – and remind Herr Selmayr and his cronies that the nations of Europe need Britain more then we need them.
They should never forget that, despite the best efforts of Brexit’s saboteurs at home, we could still walk away from the talks – taking our rich markets and lavish offer of a divorce settlement with us. And who would pick up Mr Juncker’s bills then?