Robert Peston Robert Peston

Deal or no-deal? The choice is Boris Johnson’s

(Getty images)

If you voted for Brexit, did you think it was a state of pure and perfect national independence, or did you think that given how connected the UK is to the EU – economically, diplomatically, in respect of security – it might be a bit of a fudge and compromise?

Is Brexit an absolute state of putative grace – or a place on a spectrum, somewhere between Switzerland and Norway, which are semi-independent, and North Korea, which is wholly independent?

Because your answer will help you determine whether or not you think Boris Johnson is being reasonable in rejecting the EU stipulation that the UK should not weaken its environmental, labour and state aid standards (inter alia) in return for not paying any tariffs or being subject to any quantitative restrictions when trading with the world’s biggest market.

The EU in essence wants its firms to be able to sue in British courts if the UK weakens its adherence to those standards in a way that gives UK firms an unfair competitive advantage.

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