Even ministers don’t understand Brexit

The Brexit negotiations are becoming so complicated that even the cabinet admits that it doesn’t understand what is going on. The Prime Minister has been told by several of her colleagues that they won’t back any deal she agrees until they have seen written legal advice, setting out what it means. If a Brexit deal is going to be impenetrable even to secretaries of state who have followed every step of the negotiations, what hope does the public have?

This extraordinary state of affairs was summed up by the cabinet meeting this week during which ministers discussed where the negotiations stand. Theresa May would agree on the money to pay the EU, but not the full terms of Brexit: those negotiations would be ongoing. She would also commit to Northern Ireland staying aligned with EU rules on goods to avoid a hard border. The rest of the UK might agree to follow EU rules as well.