Brexit means Brexit after all

Today the EU released its guidelines for the remaining talks, and coupled with UK's A50 notification letter and May's "red lines" over the SM, CU and UCJ meant that the best the EU could offer is a Canada-style FTA.

This should come as no surprise, but you can be sure Brexiteers will be blaming the EU for not letting them having their cake and eating it.

The EU has been saying there can be no cherry picking of things from the Union, the UK already has opt-outs, and now its leaving wanted opt-ins. And that is not going to be allowed to happen. The EU has been saying the same thing for two years now, and that it is is black and white should not surprise May, DD, Fox et al, but they will say it does.

Wanting a Norway deal with the benefits, but the obligations of a Norway FTA wasn't going to wash, and isn't.

Brexit means Brexit, and although May hasn't said what it really meant, said enough in speeches and to conferences what she was looking for. That she was talking to her own party to keep herself in power for another few months, that the EU27 could find out the rhetoric that she was using, and her red lines.

A FTA means hard borders, including the one between NI and Ireland. Although the UK has promised that will not happen, so some kind of border will have to exist between NI and the rest of Britain. How is the Union looking now?

What lies ahead? Who knows, internal party warfare? An election? Both the Conservative and Labour parties splitting? Anything is possible. But, as always, Brexit will happen in 55 weeks time by a simple matter of international law and the calendar. Britain will leave with or without a deal unless there is significant change, and no sign of that before today.

As always, I wish I never had to write about Brexit again. That we could all just agree to forget about it and never speak of it again.