So, taking stock:
Boris has managed to renegotiate the Withdrawal Agreement. The backstop is gone. NI can get out of new arrangements.
Boris has managed to renegotiate the Withdrawal Agreement. The backstop is gone. NI can get out of new arrangements.
But he has signed up to something that he said he would never. NI will be treated significantly differently from GB. And there will be a customs and regulatory border in the Irish Sea.
From Dublin’s point of view – they have conceded on consent and time-limit. NI could get out of arrangement. But how likely is that? For foreseeable future, no hardening at all of the border in Ireland.
And from the EU’s point of view, the single market is protected, the future trade agreement will have the level playing field commitments, and the three objectives of the withdrawal agreement – people, money, Ireland – are achieved.
So it’s over to Westminster . . .
