Don’t let the EU eat you for lunch, Boris

HOUNDED from the podium by Remain protesters and berated by his supposed host – Luxembourg premier Xavier Bettel – Boris Johnson was sorely tested during his visit to the Grand Duchy yesterday.

The Prime Minister came in peace – to begin negotiations over risotto for an eleventh-hour Brexit deal with European Commission president Jean- Claude Juncker. Instead, he found himself served up as the dish in a media stunt designed to publicly humiliate him.

Mr Bettel, acting as ‘ bad cop’ for his countryman Mr Juncker, slams Brexit as a British-inspired nightmare. Meanwhile, the European Parliament Brexit co-ordinator Guy Verhofstadt pours petrol on the fire by brandishing a ‘B******s to Brexit’ T-shirt at the Liberal Democrat party conference.

Is the EU serious about achieving a deal? Or is it willing Mr Johnson to fail in the hope that he will soon be replaced by a pliable Remain coalition? If so, Brussels is playing with fire.

Meanwhile, today a new front opens in the Brexit war: The Supreme Court ruling on whether or not the Prime Minister lied to the Queen when requesting the prorogation of Parliament.

This is Boris’s moment of reckoning, when his mettle is truly tested. No one will be happier to see him fail than Lib Dem leader Jo Swinson, who wants to ditch British democracy and revoke Article 50 without even offering a ‘confirmatory vote’. In doing so, she ensures that the already bitter divide over Brexit widens further.

The Prime Minister must keep his calm and remain focused on a deal. In doing so, he forces his opponents to show their true colours. Whatever happens, he must not be the cause of failure.