So here’s a leaked EU “room document” on the legal questions relating to a Brexit delay.

It was circulated to EU ambos earlier this afternoon.

Our full story here: ft.com/content/030dce… It’s pretty hardline on the need for the UK to take part in European Parliament elections if an extension goes beyond May.

This section outlines the risks to the EU and the need for a “termination” clause if there is to be a long extension

The Walloon Solution, codicils, the Danish-Dutch fix -- what on earth does all this have to do with Brexit?

Here's my (probably futile) attempt to explain The challenge: Theresa May needs a legally binding reassurance on the Northern Ireland backstop that does not actually change Britain's exit treaty.

Wow

Warning: some Brexit heresy coming up.

It is possible to:

1) substantially renegotiate the exit treaty

2) ditch the backstop customs union

3) secure a workable "Norway for Now" option

4) get the EU to agree

*ALL AT THE SAME TIME* The answer: reverting to the draft deal Theresa May and Dominic Raab rejected in mid-October.

Remember this? ft.com/content/e5ecd6…

There is one important hitch. You could probably call this model "DUP Minus" -- and therein lies the problem.

The leaked Brexit declaration The summary of the trade relationship

My skim of the bumper UK withdrawal treaty, in no particular order

ec.europa.eu/commission/sit… The transition extension clause. A one off extension. But no fixed date is set, apart from it being within this century....

There are three amazing claims in David Davis’ Sunday Times piece

thetimes.co.uk/article/may-ha… 1) under a free trade deal, the EU will defer to rulings of an independent panel when deciding whether future UK regulatory divergence is problematic

Mini Brexit leak: I've got my hands on a copy of the revised guidelines on future relations, which were circulated this evening.

Main changes below, in consecutive order. (Warning: there are definitely better things to do on a Friday night.) The first change moves this paragraph up -- presumably to make the hint even clearer

The Protocol on Ireland is quite breathtaking in its level of detail. It establishes a "common regulatory area" between north-south, covering customs, VAT, energy, env, agri, product markets and more. This is the enforcement section -- full ECJ jurisdiction over Northern Ireland Here is the free movement of goods section (which basically describes a customs union). Note the need for joint EU-UK customs checks on goods coming from the UK mainland

1/ Brexit and EU third country deals. It's crazily complicated. But it is getting simpler (for the transition at least). A thread on how I understand it. 2/ The UK will automatically fall out of hundreds of EU agreements on Brexit day. Here is a full list of the 750 relevant to the UK. ig.ft.com/brexit-treaty-…

1/ So what did the 27 EU leaders say about Brexit in their summit room? And what does it mean for talks? A thread 2/ Once summit conclusions were agreed (90 secs) the main question was Theresa May, her weakness and whether she deserved help.