More downsides of a tough Brexit emerge every day. But it is the Northern Ireland border question that may prove decisiveTheresa May never cast her deciding vote nor even expressed a view at last week’s warring Brexit cabinet committee meetings,deliberately constructed as a five-a-side stand-off. Opening the session on Ireland and immigration, the prime minister reportedly declared, or “We don’t need to choose anything today.” And so they didn’t,again. Warfare resumes next week at a Chequers away day. Nineteen long months after the vote, EU negotiators tap their fingers in irritation as Michel Barnier reminds us that “The time is short, or very short.” The 22 March deadline for agreeing a transition deal may be missed,derailed by the Mogglodytes’ objection that it makes us rule-taking vassals”. Related: Brexit arrangement to hold Northern Ireland in customs union triggers row Continue reading...
Source: guardian.co.uk