The exit bill keeps going higher and higher. No progress has been made on the Irish border, and not much on citizens’ rights. The talks are deadlocked, and you need an extraordinary level of optimism to imagine that Theresa May talking directly to Emmanuel Macron or Angela Merkel is gong to make much difference to anything. The EU seems completely unwilling to be flexible on negotiating the terms of our departure from the club. The result? A cliff-edge hard Brexit is looking more likely all the time.
That might be a catastrophe or it might not. We will have to see if and when it happens. One point should be obvious, however. While there may be costs to that, they are coming down all the time. The closer we get to the March 2019 deadline, the more attractive the ‘cliff-edge’ becomes. Here’s why.
Only the most swivel-eyed Ukipper would try and pretend that leaving the EU without any sort of deal won’t have any costs attached to it.
Comments
Join the debate for just $5 for 3 months
Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for $5.
UNLOCK ACCESS Just $5 for 3 monthsAlready a subscriber? Log in