As @borisjohnson quits the Chequers strategy is now holed below the waterline.
It required Brexiteers to willfully buy into fiction that May's mad customs plan was deliverable, even at a later date.
That has now failed. 1/
It required Brexiteers to willfully buy into fiction that May's mad customs plan was deliverable, even at a later date.
That has now failed. 1/
@BorisJohnson The basic plan - as @DavidDavisMP and @BorisJohnson identified - was to get the EU to buy the Chequers idea with a nod and a wink, knowing full well that massive concessions were coming down the line.
On money, on the level-playing field, on regulatory alignment. But.../2
On money, on the level-playing field, on regulatory alignment. But.../2
@BorisJohnson @DavidDavisMP That only worked if everyone - the EU & the Brexiteers - bought into the fiction that the unicorns might, one day hence, be digitally engineered.
That strategy doesn't fly now. And it must alter consideration of how EU side receives Chequers gambit /3
That strategy doesn't fly now. And it must alter consideration of how EU side receives Chequers gambit /3
@BorisJohnson @DavidDavisMP If the Boris/Davis position is "this and no further" and May really can't go further, then in practice the EU is not similarly incentivised to play along.
Noting that there is no majority for any deal, they may instead decide it is the direct approach that makes sense /4
Noting that there is no majority for any deal, they may instead decide it is the direct approach that makes sense /4
@BorisJohnson @DavidDavisMP The odds on a very hard Brexit are surely shortening fast - or on delayed/no Brexit at all!
