Wednesday 6th December

I was, and still am, a Remainer.  I sincerely wish the Referendum had never happened, or that the result had been different.  But I also realise that Brexit cannot be stopped; the best that can be hoped for is that we come out of the final negotiations with some sort of free-trade deal – though, it is also certain that we will never get as good a deal as we have at the moment.  Mrs. May has ruled out membership of both the Single Market and the Customs Union – almost the worst scenario…..but, unless she is deposed and negotiations are begun again with a new Prime Minister, hopefully a Labour one, there is little prospect of anything better.

However I do feel that if push came to shove, the EU would bend over backwards to keep us in.

But, just as Mrs. May has her red lines, so too does the EU.  And one of the most important is the Irish Border.  And yesterday we had the almost farcical (if only it weren’t so desperately important) spectacle of a British Prime Minister who had agreed in principle to keep the two states on the island of Ireland with no economic variation (a form of words to say that in Northern Ireland, there would be no border and that goods could pass with no tariffs), in other words – Ulster would have a special status within the U.K.  (Actually it already does…)

Then the phone call from Arlene Foster, the true Bete Noir of British Politics.  She insisted that Northern Ireland must have the same Brexit as the rest of the UK, or else….

And that meant that she would no longer support Theresa May’s Government.  And so, the desire to remain in power overcame any semblance of commonsense – and suddenly the deal (already announced by the Irish) was off. There will be more negotiations, but if Mrs. May thinks she can change the DUP’s mind she is sorely mistaken.  It looks as if trade talks will be put off, for now if not indefinitely.

I cannot quite make my mind up whether Mrs. May is simply incompetent, or that she knew all along this solution would never pass.  Maybe it is all an excuse for her to leave with no deal at all?

When the Tories got their ‘arrangement’ with the DUP I knew it was trouble.  They really are the most stubborn idiots.  They may just have gone too far this time.  There are still two possibilities.  Sinn Fein, under new leadership, may finally take their seats at Westminster, or a handful of Tory M.P.s may put country above party and help bring down this wretched broken Government.