Dear David - The words coming out of the EU elite appear to be getting more disgusting by the day. I say that as a 'remain' voter who now regrets the way he voted! If Juncker and co think their words and actions will sway Brits their way they are seriously deluded. I work here in the UK with many Europeans who were delighted that Theresa May proposed a rapid solution to the residency issue, but then were shocked by the EU's actions.

This article by Brian Monteith for City A.M. – The EU is Scared: It knows no deal is better for Britain than a bad deal, is probably right in suggesting that the mood in Brussels is panic being hidden as toughness: 

"The leaks that have emerged from EU Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker since his dinner with Theresa May at Downing Street last week confirm what any realistic observer has known since last June. Juncker & Co are afraid. Very afraid. I can agree with the president that Theresa May inhabits a different galaxy, but he is looking through the wrong end of the telescope; it is she who is firmly grounded in the mortal world of realpolitik, while the EU leadership at every level lives in an ethereal cosmos of inert gases disappearing up its own black hole. First, ask any seasoned negotiator about how best to conduct the process of finding a mutually desirable agreement, and they will tell you that, when you walk in to the meeting, you need to know what would make you give up on the talks and walk out again. Theresa May has already worked that out and it scares Juncker and his chief negotiator Michel Barnier."

Theresa May is playing it superbly. She was right to call the election and that has rattled Brussels as they fear she will get a strong mandate from the British people. After the election, in a strong position, I suspect she will go quite slow for a while in order to let Juncker and Barnier dig even deeper holes for themselves with their outrageous bullying demands, so that when she decides to leave without a deal it will be very clear to the world who caused that inevitable decision.

David Fuller's view

Thanks for your informed thoughts on this subject and also for the link to Brian Monteith’s apt article for City A. M. 

I think it was the economist Patrick Minford who first warned us many months ago that Britain would not be able to negotiate with the EU, at least not initially.  Its entire strategy has been to create an impenetrable farrago of rules, conditions and fictitious charges to deter any country from leaving the EU. The negativity of this strategy is appalling and very unlikely to work with the UK, provided Mrs May gets a strong majority from the General Election on 8^th June, as most of us expect. 

Meanwhile, the EU’s last amateurish and pathetic strategy is to invent new rules and soaring financial charges to frighten Mrs May into surrender.  It is already having the opposite effect.