The problem is less the type of Brexit that Britain opted for than a refusal to accept what flows from it. That is clearest in Northern Ireland
Some of Mr Johnson’s difficulties are tied to his personal flaws: arrogance, sloppiness and a belief that rules are for little people. But Lord Frost, for all that his bellicose approach to the, which the Conservatives promised would kick-start a national renewal, the government is adrift. Growth has been sluggish and ejection from the single market has, as expected, harmed the country’s prospects: government forecasters put the long- run hit to productivity at around 4%.
. Britain chose to maximise sovereignty and national control, at the cost of leaving the, mindful of Northern Ireland’s fragile peace, offered a special deal whereby the province remained, in effect, in the single market and customs union so as to avoid a destabilising hard border with the Republic of Ireland.
A similar failure to make a choice and stick to it is evident in Britain’s vacillations between the two options of either escaping the’s regulatory pull or staying in tight orbit around the single market and its rules. The reason is partly electoral. Brexit’s most ardent salesmen dreamed of lighter taxes and looser regulations—of Britain becoming Singapore-on-Thames. But many voters rather like the, Britain has in some ways become more European.
A dose of realism is needed. On Northern Ireland, that means accepting that for the province to be both inside and outside thecan then work to minimise the downsides, such as onerous customs checks—and to maximise the upsides by helping businesses in one of the United Kingdom’s poorest regions profit from their privileged access to theOn when to diverge from Europe, Britain needs to assess the costs and benefits, and then move decisively.
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