We may have avoided no-deal, but this is still Brexit tier 3

Johnson's agreement has only managed to save Britain from what would have been a catastrophic economic lockdown

Donald Trump's starring role in the storming of the Capitol on Wednesday marked a fitting end to the courtship of the US president by Boris Johnson. Just think: before the president lost convincingly to Joe Biden, our prime minister - a master of procrastination and prevarication - was holding out for a Trump victory and a world-beating UK-US trade deal, which might well have involved a no-deal Brexit.

Johnson enthusiasts tell us what a brilliant tactic it was for the prime minister to take the negotiations with the EU to 11th hour, but the likelihood is that a deal of some sort was only decided on when the US option disappeared. As it is, the deal is most certainly thin, as described by Labour Leader Sir Keir Starmer: it does not cover the 80% of our economy accounted for by services, and involves massive increases in bureaucratic form-filling for businesses from manufacturers to road hauliers and wine merchants, not to mention British citizens in general. It particularly hurts the young, who are overwhelmingly against Brexit.

Single market? Those crazed Brexit ministers had to have the single market explained to them when they met after the referendum result

Continue reading...