One thought about the detailed “backstop” proposals for NI in the Commission’s draft agreement. It’s a template for a deal that is presumably available to the rest of the U.K. if it decides to prioritise frictionless trade with the EU over the questionable gains from other FTAs.
The detailed deal is essentially staying in the CU, the SM for goods/agri, and the VAT area. Not too far off what is now Labour policy: and possibly tweakable (it needs a different dispute resolution mechanism - EFTA Court? - and there may be some room for flexibility on VAT).
It’s more or less @SamuelMarcLowe’s “Jersey” proposal as outlined at the @instituteforgov event on Tuesday #ifgevents. And it proves Sam’s claim that (in contrast to some of the other proposals) it is actually something the EU may well agree to.
