'One of the things that the EU did like about Theresa May was her respect for the process, the sequences, the parameters'

The BBC's Adam Fleming said yesterday on Radio Four, damningly:

“One of the things that the EU did like about Theresa May was her respect for the process, for the structures that were built around the process, the sequences, the parameters and just how it worked.

He went on:

“And so there’s an infamous anecdote of a conversation between Theresa May and Jean-Claude Juncker in Sharm-El-Sheik when the deal was not done in the desert, where Theresa May said ‘Jean-Claude, how can you reassure me that when you retire by the end of this year you are not replaced by a baddy like Matteo Salvini of Italy?’ - somebody who just wants to rip everything up and doesn’t respect the rules. 

“And Juncker infamously said to her ‘Well, how can you guarantee me that you won’t be replaced by somebody like Boris Johnson or Jacob-Rees Mogg?’

The EU's fear of and loathing for Boris Johnson was always one of his strong points, to put in balance with his weak ones. If only the EU had feared Mrs. May. 

How saddening but unsurprising that Mrs May considers Mr Salvini, who is a friend to Brexit and Britain a baddy, rather than Mr. Juncker who wishes Brexit and Britain ill. People who say that Britain should remain in the EU to remake it with the help of the so-called populist governments do not understand how deeply ingrained liberalism is in British political culture. All politicians these days are liberals except for the Corbynites, Sir Christopher Chope and the D.U.P.