I was 19 years old when I first moved to Germany, and lived in Moabit, the second-roughest part of what was then West Berlin. The roughest part, Kreuzberg, was where I worked at the public swimming pool. Four days after I arrived I was in a fight in a pizzeria, emerging with a broken nose, but I won in the end, with my German assailant being given a prison sentence.

So I am used to some rough and tumble in Germany. But it is a country I love: my wife is from (East) Berlin, we speak German at home and our children are dual national. I visit frequently. Today I am just south of Munich, giving a speech (in German) on trade.

This week I found myself in dispute with the chief official of the European Union, Martin Selmayr, Jean-Claude Juncker’s right-hand man, nicknamed the “monster”. It’s good practice in the UK civil service for senior officials not to give interviews, but Selmayr gave one to his local paper.

In it, he boasted about how good the Withdrawal Agreement was for the EU, and how bad for Britain. He proclaimed that the agreement proved that leaving the EU “doesn’t work” — “The Europeans are at one on the question of Brexit. All have noticed that this exit from the EU, which the populists have extolled as a great success, doesn’t work. The other 27 states are united: they have negotiated hard and realised their objectives.”

In other reports, Selmayr told EU sherpas: “The power is with us.” Senior colleagues are also reported to have said: “They must align their rules but the EU will retain all the controls… the EU retains its leverage” and even, “to use a Christmas theme, we want all parties and factions in the British Parliament to feel the bleak midwinter”.

I put together 17 examples of Selmayr and his colleagues boasting how good the Withdrawal Agreement is for the EU, and how bad for Britain. Selmayr took to Twitter to claim my account was “false”, but every single quote came from reputable media outlets.

The point is this. There are many views in this country on Brexit. But is there any wonder that only 19 per cent of Britons support Theresa May’s deal, when so many Remainers and Leavers see it as against UK interests? The reminder from indiscreet EU Commission officials as to how much they think the agreement works against the UK should also be a wake-up call. My belief is that the agreement is too much in Brussels’s direction and won’t pass the House of Commons when it votes next Tuesday. Ironically, the Commission itself may be driving the UK towards the no-deal (or WTO) Brexit that everyone says they favour the least.

Tomorrow, at the same conference in the Alps, Jean-Claude Juncker will be presented with a “press freedom prize”. Selmayr will probably be there. I look forward to meeting him, and will advise him: no more press interviews.