May’s Brexit deal: 40 rebuttals to Downing Street’s 40 rebuttals

Is a deal better than no deal? After Mr S attempted to answer that question over the weekend by publishing 40 horrors lurking in the small print of Theresa May’s Brexit deal, No. 10 got in touch with 40 rebuttals to Steerpike’s 40 horrors.

Still with us? Well, episode three of this series is finally here. Mr S thanks 10 Downing Street for conceding many of the 40 points on the Withdrawal Agreement, and for engaging in all of them. In the spirit of friendly discussion, here are all 40 of Steerpike’s responses.

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First, a note on ambiguity: In its rebuttals, No10 accepts ambiguity over how the document might be interpreted – which, in this case, is crucial. Under this system, if the UK And EU disagree over the interpretation then the EU (or the ECJ) decides. A normal international trade agreement would involve an independent third party mechanism for solving ambiguities.