Ursula von der Leyen, the incoming European Commission president, made the silly suggestion this month that Britain should send Brussels its own commissioner if it is still a member of the EU on November 1 — the day when the new commission takes over.

Von der Leyen may be legally right, but her statement wasn’t politically astute. The UK of course would not nominate an EU commissioner after requesting and obtaining from the EU a three-month Brexit extension beyond October 31.