[EU officials] thoroughly approve of Labour’s policy on negotiating a customs union with the EU, and have had this message passed on to the Labour leader..[But]...The EU’s executive senses danger, and it has started disregarding some diplomatic norms to try to mitigate against it....On hearing that Corbyn would be in town [Brussels] and likely to visit Michel Barnier, the commission’s all-powerful secretary-general, Martin Selmayr, known as the “monster of Berlaymont” for his tactical nous and work ethic, let it be known he would like to talk to the Labour leader.
This is controversial, it seems, but the EC doesn't like the Labour 'six tests' stance especially the one that says they will reject any deal that does not deliver the exact same benefits (apparently D Davis's promise) as membership.
When the Guardian broke news of the meeting, the commission’s spokesman told reporters there was no meeting of which he was aware. Weasel words that were swiftly shown to be so. The meeting took place... Corbyn was told that his stance made a no-deal Brexit more likely than not, sources in Brussels disclosed.
EC officials lecturing British opposition politicians! I'd love to know what Corbyn said back. Anyway:
Barnier and his deputy, Sabine Weyand, told Corbyn they believed they might be close to finding agreement with May, but everyone needed to act calmly and responsibly if the withdrawal agreement was to get through parliament. Senior figures in the commission believe Labour could play a key role in de-dramatising the issue of the Irish border. It is likely to have been an unwelcome lecture that exposed just how worried the Eurocrats are, even before the Tories have started their caterwauling in Birmingham.
The master politicians of the EC might not be that well-informed about the Tories either:
They have no understanding of the political fissures and rivulets that run through the Conservative party, little understanding of the Downing Street strategy, and have almost completely given up on trying to work with May in a coordinated way to stage-manage a result....Some say they just hope the Conservatives can have a “sensible, rational discussion” in which they accept that keeping Northern Ireland in the EU’s customs territory is the only solution for avoiding a hard border on the island of Ireland, and come to realise that the EU is offering a trade deal like no other. The coming days and weeks are likely to prove a considerable disappointment.
Meanwhile Gudrian stalwarts can take heart from a piece by J Freedland of the Uradniag that rings all the old bells. It is about an alleged epidemic of 'toxic masculinity', focused mainly on the displays of outraged amour propre byJudge Kavanaugh at the Senate hearings into allegations that he sexually assaulted a woman 36 years ago. Trump himself 'is the lead exponent', but others include:
Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte, whose response to the rape and killing of an Australian missionary in the town where he was once mayor was to say, “They raped her, they lined up. I was angry because … she was so beautiful, the mayor should have been first. What a waste.”...[and] Viktor Orbán’s government in Hungary.
Seasoned observers will be waiting for the Brexit link, of course, and they are not disappointed:
In Britain, our own wannabe Trump is Boris Johnson who, when looking to take a cheap, rabble-rousing shot at Muslims, aimed his fire at Muslim women and their appearance.
Having done some amateur and second-hand psychology on toxic masculinity (a rehash of many earlier pieces), Freedland says: 'In Britain, the form is milder but the macho mindset is similar. Note the Brexiteers who believe the UK could walk away from its legal obligations to the EU.'
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