LONDON — The British press' reaction this week to Theresa May's Brexit speech was nothing if not predictable.

All of the lengthy passages in May's speech about wanting to be the "best friend and neighbour" to our European allies were ignored in favour of her warning that the EU would suffer if it fails to offer us a good deal.

"May to EU: give us fair deal or you'll be crushed" was the Times' headline. The Metro went for "Europe will be 'in tiny little pieces' if it punishes us" while the Mail warned simply that May would "make EU pay" for a bad deal.

The Sun, not wanting to be outdone, today published an image of Angela Merkel's face inside a light bulb with the headline "Would the last country to leave EU please turn out the lights."

Eager not to miss out, Boris Johnson, who pioneered this particular brand of anti-EU reporting while working for the Daily Telegraph, joined in by comparing the French president to a WWII prison guard.

"If Mr Hollande wants to administer punishment beatings to anybody who seeks to escape, in the manner of some World War Two movie, I don’t think that is the way forward, and it’s not in the interests of our friends and partners," Johnson said.

Johnson's comments were telling on two counts. First, it revealed that those hoping the former London mayor would take his new role seriously are set to be disappointed. For any politician, let alone the man responsible for Britain's entire diplomatic operation, to use WWII-based insults in dealings with other European countries shows a spectacular lack of judgement.

More importantly, the comments revealed a fundamental flaw in the way Britain sees these negotiations. This flaw was summed up perfectly by the European Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs, Pierre Moscovici, who told the Today programme: "You cannot have all of the advantages of being the member of the club when you are out of the club. I think that our British friends who invented clubs can understand that."

The EU is essentially a club, into which members pay fees in exchange for certain benefits. Among other things, membership allows preferential treatment on the trade of goods and services. Leaving that club means losing that preferential treatment. If it didn't, then there would be no point in being a member. It is not threatening a "punishment beating" to point this out. It is merely stating facts.

Little Britain, or big opportunity?

Today's YouGov poll suggests the prime minister is riding high on a wave of anti-EU feeling summed up perfectly by the Mail's front page cartoon of Theresa 'Iron Lady' May standing proudly on the White Cliffs of Dover as she issues threats to the EU across the water. While this may be a comforting image for the country right now, it bears little relation to the situation the UK actually faces.

Leave campaigners have long claimed that being part of the EU means we have neglected our relationship with the rest of the world. May herself claimed this week that leaving the EU will allow us to reach out and become a new "global Britain" free from the shackles of the EU. If that is what Leavers truly believe then they need to accept the trade-off that this necessarily implies.

By voting to leave the EU we have voted for a worse relationship with the EU in exchange for a better relationship with everyone else. Maybe that will turn out to be a good trade off and maybe it won't, but it's high time those who advocate it stop pretending it doesn't exist.