EU negotiation

Like everyone else, I haven't a clue how the EU negotiations are going to end up, but the initial omens aren't good. May seems to think she has to present herself as some cut-price Thatcher - prepared to be "bloody" difficult - ohmigod, the vicar's daughter swore. This must be serious. It fits all too well into our grand tradition of effortless superiority; we know we're better than these foreigners, so we don't have to take them seriously. Quite apart from manners of morality, this can't be the smartest way to get a decent result. I'm not sure precisely what the guiding spirit for negotiation ought to be, but - to borrow an expletive - I'm bloody certain it shouldn't be the Daily Mail.