There is nothing to lose from a Brexit extension

You might think that the biggest public health and economic crisis since the second world war ought to be a moment at which government should concentrate on the here and now, forsaking grand projects the better to focus all its attention on dealing with both the coronavirus itself and its wider, monumental, impact on almost every aspect of British life. But, no. Other matters continue, even if preposterously so.

According to the government, not even this calamity can be allowed to interrupt the hitherto smooth and straightforward passage of Brexit. The ongoing negotiations over the UK’s final withdrawal from the European Union cannot be delayed by anything so trivial as Covid-19. Here, though nowhere else, it is business as usual. The negotiations will be done by December and that’s that. We shall not ask for a modest delay and if the EU demands such a thing, the UK will reject it.