The Brexit deal vote is the start of another long process – not the end

Editorial: What leaving the EU will mean for the UK will soon no longer be a matter of debate, but a matter of reality

Boris Johnson has been quick to praise the Brexit deal (Getty Images)

The start of Brexit has taken so long and been so torturous that the end of the beginning is being mistaken for the end. 

That the House of Commons has now passed the deal on the future relationship into law, and the European Commission has done the same, does not mark the end of Brexit, in any way. Nor is it likely to mark its relegation into some kind of second order political issue.

That is wishful thinking. The point that has now been reached was not meant to take four and a half years. Slow travel can make a journey feel more epic. But Lands End and John O’Groats are the same distance apart whether you walk, cycle, drive or fly. That this deal has taken so long does not mean it is any greater, or more significant, than it would be had it been done in a week.