Michel Barnier likes to make clear that he holds no grudge against Britain as he thrashes out its terms of exit from the European Union. "There is no place for Schadenfreude in Brexit," the bloc's chief negotiator recently said. "There is neither revenge nor punishment in our mission."

No matter what the Frenchman says, it is obviously in the interests of Brussels chiefs to ensure that the first member to leave their club has as difficult a time as possible. They'd hardly want the remaining members to get any ideas about doing the same, would they? They can't do much to Britain once it has left the EU for good, but the British Government's desire to delay full departure for a few years so it can prepare has given them an opportunity.

Ministers bill this phase as an "implementation period", which David Davis confessed to MPs would be "very, very similar" to remaining in the EU. That may be...