Brexit Calculus Is Changed Dramatically by Covid
If it weren’t for Covid-19, the chances of an EU-U.K. trade deal would be slim to none. But will the British public accept any pain from Brexit right now?
Harder times.
Photographer: Pool/Getty Images EuropeWhen Boris Johnson had his breakthrough meeting with then Irish leader Leo Varadkar outside Liverpool in 2019, he had a burning need to strike a Brexit deal and only one major obstacle standing in the way: the Irish border. Faced with either betraying Brexiters in his party, which would have been the end of his leadership, or plunging his country into the chaos of a no-deal exit, the U.K. prime minister met the European Union more than halfway and clinched a deal.
At first look, the picture couldn’t be more different this year. As Britain and the EU enter their final round of post-Brexit trade talks before Johnson’s Oct. 15 deadline, there isn’t one sticking point but multiple ones — from access to U.K. fishing waters for European boats and Brussels demands for a level playing field on state aid to issues around police and judicial cooperation and even how the treaty will be administered and disputes settled.