What the papers say: The new Brexit divide

‘Remain’ and ‘Leave’ is no longer the basis of the divide over Brexit, says the Daily Telegraph. Instead, the new split is over to what extent post-Brexit Britain should ‘mirror what the EU does on trade and services’ or whether the UK should ‘plough its own furrow in the world’. 18 months on from the referendum, this key debate has not been ‘addressed by the Government’. ‘Convergers’ – those who want Britain’s trade arrangements to remain broadly in line with the status quo – ‘have the upper hand’ at the moment, says the Telegraph. Philip Hammond has confirmed this with his vow for Britain to maintain, at least in the transition period, ‘an environment which will effectively replicate the current status quo’. But this prospect worries some Leavers who fear that a ’transition phase will turn into something longer-term, with convergence eventually winning over divergence’. Boris Johnson spoke up for the ‘divergers’ yesterday in his interview with the Sunday Times, in which he said ‘that failure to ditch EU law would make Britain a ‘vassal state’.