Interesting as always. If I read this right, we may be heading towards a future in which the UK is in the customs union, and NI is in the single market. No Irish border problems. Irish Sea regulatory checks. 1/
Step back a little and ask whether this would be a good/workable outcome. In brief, it works well for NI, and, imv, tolerably well for the EU too. But, what about the UK? 2/
Much of the focus will be on whether the Brexiters can accept CU membership, and on the role of Liam Fox. But, the bigger consequences flow from the decision to leave the single market. 3/
Membership of the single market is a step change from membership of the customs union. The single market makes trade easier, quicker, and more profitable. It involves being part of a transnational regulatory system. 4/
It is, in the language of eg 2016, a ‘hard’ Brexit outcome, which will (experts predict) do great economic damage to the UK. And for what? 5/
For the right to diverge from standards the UK broadly approves of; and so that standards will not be enforced via a system which includes the CJEU. It is, imv, a very suboptimal solution. 6/6
