It is fair to say that some in Brussels were delusional enough that believe that they could stop Brexit.
They were whipped up by fanatical Labour, Lib Dem and Green Party politicians who blindly insisted that the public wanted to remain in the EU, despite the historic 2016 referendum vote.
So when British voters – repeatedly – backed Brexit at election after election eventually forcing through the UK’s eventual EU exit, it came as something of a shock to many in the Belgian capital.
After all, we’ve seen what has happened in the past when voters in countries within the EU’s orbit vote to reject the EU agenda: They are made to vote again until they give the ‘right’ answer.
So the UK’s exit in itself was a blow to the EU establishment, who also feared that the UK would gain competitive advantage.
It was bizarre to see those running the EU’s Brexit deal negotiations insist there were no benefits for an independent UK – yet you’ll have noticed it was Brussels frequently demanding a so-called ‘level playing field’ – not the British side.
Sadly our Government has clearly not been aggressive enough in seeking that competitive advantage when it comes to regulation, taxation or indeed reducing levels of migration as countries within the EU can’t do, stuck as they are with open borders.
Given the national polls are currently sitting where they are, it is increasingly clear that Eurocrats are licking their lips at the prospect of Sir Keir Starmer leading a Labour government after the next election.
After all, Sir Keir was at the hardcore end of the Remainer spectrum, campaigning ferociously to stop Brexit.
Since then he has played down any prospect whatsoever of the UK diverging from EU rules and regulations.
Indeed, Labour instead seem fixated on a whole series of fresh deals with the European Union. They will all have the same goal: To push the UK closer to Brussels once again.
This has clearly emboldened senior EU figures. Unelected Commission President Ursula von der Leyen this week spoke of Brexit as a ‘problem’ to be fixed and and supposedly of a direction of travel that would see Britain once again under the EU’s control.
Beyond that though, there has been further interference behind-the-scenes. It has been blatantly obvious for a while now that our Government has little hope of actually stopping the boats without leaving the ECHR.
Brexit voters know it, Conservative voters know it. Suella Braverman, the now former Home Secretary, has spoken publicly of this being necessary.
We have now heard again that EU diplomats have warned the UK against ditching the ECHR, a blatant example of foreign figures within the European Union still trying to influence and control the UK long after the decisive referendum result.
Clearly encouraged by the Conservative Government’s feeble post-Brexit delivery, coupled with Labour’s lead in the polls, those that run the EU remain obsessed – and desperate – for the UK be ruled over by Brussels.
Perhaps when EU leaders now openly talk of expanding the bloc by 2030, they are also eyeing up the UK – and their cash cow returning.
