Every now and again, something strange happens between the UK and EU: erstwhile adversaries become allies. It happened when Theresa May returned from Brussels with a deal in 2018. And it happened again on Monday as Ursula von der Leyen and “dear Rishi” appeared together in Windsor. The prime minister has taken a huge political and electoral gamble. And only time will tell whether it will pay off.
First things first. This is a clever deal that addresses many of the UK’s concerns about the operation of the existing Northern Ireland protocol in a manner that is acceptable to the EU. That is no mean feat. Clever solutions have been found to apparently intractable problems, whether these pertain to medicines or sausages. Of course, that doesn’t necessarily mean much. May’s deal was a masterpiece of circle squaring, for all the good it did her.
