Last week German foreign minister Heiko Maas made an unnecessary journey. He got up very early and flew to Dublin. At 9am he was in Dublin Castle to address the annual gathering of the Irish diplomatic corps. And at first, it seemed hard to understand why he had bothered. His speech began with a corny story that Simon Coveney had told him about how he and his siblings were in the middle of the ocean on a sailing trip.

As a joke they sent out a message that they were having a birthday party and all nearby ships were welcome to join. But, said Maas, a German yacht heard the words "Irish" and "party" and suddenly appeared alongside them, bringing a keg of beer.

So far, so toe-curling: Ireland, parties, beer. Was this cliched stuff really worth getting out of bed so early for? Except that Maas then went on to make a passionate defence of the Irish backstop to the withdrawal agreement between the UK and the EU, claiming the avoidance of a hard border not as an Irish issue but, remarkably, as "a question of identity for the European Union".

And in his peroration, the point of the cheesy story he had begun with was made clear: "When seas get rough, don't forget that a friendly German boat may be close. " His nautical metaphor acquired further resonance this week when floundering Brexiteers seized on Maas himself as the lifeboat coming to save them...

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It is hard to overstate the importance of this possibility in the minds of those who have driven the Brexit project. What they have always believed is that the EU is essentially a front for Germany. In the weird psychodrama that has been running in their heads, the Germans effectively reversed the result of the second World War.

The EU allowed them to do by economic and political means what they had failed to do by military means: dominate and control Britain. But this dark fantasy has in their minds a happy ending: since the Germans really run the EU, the whole tedious business of negotiating with Brussels is a sham. In the end the deal will be done in Berlin.

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So all Britain has to do is hold its nerve up to and beyond a no-deal exit. Then the Germans will understand that the British pluck that saw them off in 1945 is still alive. They will issue the appropriate orders to their minions to drop the backstop and give Britain all the benefits of EU membership with none of the burdens.