There may be no need in theory but there is in practice, because that's the price of preferential access to a huge market (though far less preferential than today)
There's also no need to be making such a big deal of this if actually we agree with the EU on the need for high levels of e.g social protection
Negotiating bluster or hard red lines? Trouble is nobody knows, probably including the UK government.
This is true. Business should now prepare for no deal in December as their base scenario, with any trade facilitation above this a bonus (but keep also lobbying for those facilitations since red lines will most likely soften over time)
Two extra thoughts - Conservative manifesto promise of 80% of our trade covered by free trade deals fails if no EU deal. In longer term no or shallow deal with EU likely unsustainable politically or economically. Getting there will be problematic.
And with that, off on the Eurostar to Brussels. Expecting an interesting few days...
