The day before

Tomorrow, Wednesday, the EU publishes the draft withdrawal agreement, and the fudge(s) that allowed may to claim just before Christmas that Brexit was going well will be shot down in flames, as the EU publishes what it thinks was agreed. The odd things therefore is why UK is not, or has not, published its own draft on what DD might have thought was agreed. THings is it means the EU decided over the course of two months what was agreed and what wasn't, two months in which Michael Barnier revealed that there had been almost no contact between he and the UK's teams, no meetings, no discussions. And he was concerned.

So, tomorrow the shit hits the fan when the draft states that unless something else is agreed then the fallback position is UK abiding by the SM and CU rules until something else is agreed. And locking not just NO, but all of UK into this deal too. Meaning that there is no chance of "Global" Liam Fox going out and signing trade deals with anyone else.

Which probably explains why Fox spent most of today rubbishing CUs in general and not what people voted for, realising that the EU had completely outflanked and outhought UK. And remember, this was the easiest deal to get, in the Brexiteers words and the fact these are our closest and oldest trading partners, through our membership of the EU over 60% of UK exports are controlled. And we are leaving the EU in 13 months, all those deals to do, exports to protect, but don't worry, David Davis is negotiating with the EU, and my negotiating we mean ignoring. And Liam Fox is travelling round the world drumming up support for trade deals, which he said two years agp, that by now he would have signed deals with a value of more than twice that of the EU.

He hasn't signed one, because it would be against WTO rules, and anyway, other countries want to know what relationship UK will have with the EU.

So, Liam Fox trying to rubbish CUs and Boris Johnson suggesting that the Irish border was a slight a problem as the border between Camden and Westminster, and could be solved with traffic cameras and numberplate recognition. You would have though that the Foreign Secretary would have a basic understanding of international trade laws and what it means to be inside or outside a CU, but apparently he is just a twat. Who knew?

Tomorrow is going to me mad, as the Cabinet and their friends in the press realise was the idiot savant, DD, signed up to in December.

And remember, if Britain does not accept this, all discussions stop here; no trade deal, talks about trade talks, transition. Anything. No deal Brexit or no Brexit.

Tuesday, Ryanair announced it was closing its maintenance facility in Glasgow over uncertainty over Brexit. And this in one of the parts of UK that voted remain, they must be delighted.

Former PPS to Liam Fox, Sir Martin Donnelly, came up with rather a super metaphor for Brexit on BBC's flagship early morning news show on Radio 4, that in voting for Brexit whilst being in the EU was rather like turning down a three course meal now over the possibility of a pack of crisps years in the future. He demolished all of Fox's arguments for Brexit, but that didn't really reach other news broadcasts.

Later in the evening, Sky News were leaked a memo from Johnson to the PM in which he outlines why a hardening of the Irish border might not be a bad things, other than break years of promises to NI and the British people. And the Tories friends in the DUP of course. A few hours later Number 10 had to issue a clarification in which it stated there would be no hard border in Ireland.

In which case there would be a CU, or the CU. Which May has already ruled out. Can you see the problem there?