The EU’s threat to exclude Britain from its Galileo space programme, which is building a European version of America’s GPS system, has upset the Government.

Given Theresa May’s red lines, some sort of Galileo renegotiation was always going to be required, yet even pro-Remain ministers like Greg Clark have been angered by the manner in which the EU proposes to lock Britain out of the most militarily sensitive parts of the system. After all, even after Brexit, Britain will remain “a European liberal democracy, with almost identical security interests to the remaining EU countries”, as Sophia Besch of the Centre for European Reform puts it – so it is odd to treat us as a strategic rival.

Behind the dispute probably lies French interest in space technology contracts that British companies have been winning. Yet it is a sharp reminder that more than economic growth is at stake in Brexit.