In the end everyone must realise that Brexit will never get done until London and Brussels can agree not only on the treaty they signed, but how it is meant to operate in practice.
This seems to be better understood in the European Union than in the present British government, because unpicking the entire UK-EU withdrawal agreement and the EU-UK trade and cooperation agreement – the Brexit deal – is something that might well lead to unintended consequences for both sides.
There is no justification for Britain abrogating sections of the Northern Ireland protocol, except within sharply defined circumstances, and reneging on a treaty solemnly entered into. So the EU is right to refuse to renegotiate a deal that took so long and so much energy and anguish only a few years ago.
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