The latest strange skirmish in the never-ending Brexit wars

The mere suggestion of a Swiss-style deal has mobilised Conservative Eurosceptics, writes Sean O’Grady

It is almost plausible that whoever initially briefed The Sunday Times about the potential for a Swiss-style deal did it ‘for the lols’ (Getty)

The suggestion that the UK might revisit the Brexit agreement – to do some sectoral deals with the EU so as to cut down on checks – is pragmatic, but in today’s Conservative party, is also incendiary stuff.

It would certainly help exporters, businesses that rely on European supply chains, ease the tensions abound the Northern Ireland protocol and generally boost the UK’s dismal economic growth. It would, though, also mean free movement of labour, some alignment in regulations, and the European Court of Justice presiding over it – at least in part.

However, the very whiff of a hint of a vague proposal that might be tentatively explored was sufficient to give the Conservative Eurosceptics a fit of the vapours. The sight of these parliamentarians clutching their pearls in fear and anguish at the prospect of their precious, perfect Brexit being interfered with was positively comical.