Summit discussion on extension of implementation phase by a few months “only as an option” designed to signal that there are options other than NI only backstop to be pursued. UK and EU also fleshing out a UK-wide backstop on Customs/some single market regs but will take weeks
UK sources adamant that still expect IP to end in December 2020 with a future partnership that solved the Irish border issue, and this option will never be required. But it provides an alternative to the “backstop to the backstop” that maintains UK customs integrity
Problem is in trying to solve the DUP’s particular concern re no further regulatory checks in Irish Sea, can the PM spend an extra £10bn to stay in transition an extra year - something even more unpopular with some of her own MPs....
Having said that the MPs annoyed with a year’s extra implementation phase may not be swing voters here in Parliamentary vote. Will an extra few months transition really be the difference between a deal being approved or not...?
People make the fair point of why on earth a few extra months transition will make any difference to backstop discussion - merely creating a framework and a rationale to extend it, could perhaps, but that would suggest a rather more open-ended transition too...
