There is no Brexit transition period without a withdrawal agreement. There can be no withdrawal agreement without a deal on the Irish border, the trickiest issue as I say in the magazine this week, so extending the transition cannot solve this problem.
Now, some say that extending the transition makes it less likely that the Northern Irish backstop would ever have to be used. But it is worth remembering that the DUP’s objections to the backstop are philosophical as much as practical, they don’t like even acknowledging the idea that Northern Ireland should be treated so differently to the rest of the UK.
It is hard to imagine the DUP voting for a withdrawal agreement that contained a Northern Ireland specific backstop anywhere close to the one that Michel Barnier has proposed, even if it came with assurances that it wouldn’t be used.
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