This in an *interesting* way to describe the UK wanting to keep single market benefits without any of the associated commitments on standards and regulations required to obtain those benefits. As with so much Brexit coverage it’s incredibly UK-centric, as if the UK-EU /1 https://twitter.com/domwalsh13/status/1296764966196961280

relationship were the only external relationship the EU had to manage. If they opened the single market to the UK with zero commitments on standards and regs they’d have fights on their hands with Ukraine, Switzerland, Turkey and EEA countries. They’d have internal problems /2

with Hungary and Poland, maybe more. The single market only has value if its a rule bound system and the same rules apply to all. Brexiters have never understood this simple fact, hence Frost’s incredulous response to the EU position. /3

The EU position isn’t going to change because 1) the single market works great for its members, 2) they’re not going to compromise it for the UK and 3) they’re not going to complicate their other external relationships by giving the UK a free pass. /4

I suspect the long term thinkers among them will also be aware that it’s going to be very isolating and very cold outside the single market, and that it won’t be too many years before a more sensible UK Govt will be back to negotiate something better for all parties. /5

That’s just as likely to be a post Johnson / Cummings Tory Govt as it is a Labour Govt. Brexit has captured the Tories for now, but it won’t forever, and the economics (as well as the security, defence, data sharing, climate, etc etc) fundamentals will stay the same. /6

A softer deal - even something like May’s deal that kept us in the customs union - might have been a semi-sustainable endgame. A Johnson barebones FTA or No Deal are not. Whatever happens this year, it won’t last long. /end