Looking back,I think Theresa May's Lancaster House speech really was a key moment. By setting out red lines that implied achieving hard Brexit goals was possible. This made hard Brexit outcomes the benchmark & undercut later attempts to sell deals that didnt meet those goals 1/3

In early 2017 she had the political capital to confront hardliners & make that case that hard Brexit (which was a fringe position)was not achievable or desirable. She chose to put off that confrontation and pretend that hard Brexit goals could be attained without a hard Brexit2/3

This has led to the remarkable situation where a hard Brexit option, which would never have won support in a referendum and which had minimal support in Parliament has gradually become the policy of the UK government.3/3