[Sephiroth]

Originally Posted by 1andrew1

"Not sure about that" is an under statement. We couldn't have walked away with no deal as it would have breached the Northern Ireland Protocol.

The deal we negotiated was a hard Brexit that did not represent the country's feeling. It's not just about the spectrum of views of the 52% it's about the 100%. Norway had a similar outcome so decided not to join the EU but went for the very close relationship instead. I'm not saying we should have copied Norway but finding something that was more representative of the desire of the UK population as a whole and not of the more extreme right wing of the Conservative Party would have been beneficial. As it is, we'll move that way over time but at a higher economic cost than being there in the first place.
https://www.norway.no/en/missions/eu...ical-overview/

I don't believe that for one moment. A breach by the UK of the NI agreement (NIA) was an entirely confected argument. Article 50 didn't stop us from leaving the EU - in other words it was notwithstanding the NIA.

Had we walked away from the EU, closing the border with Eire would have ben an act of the EU, who were not a party to the NIA except possibly by association with Eire. This onus is what frightened the hell out of Varadkar and we caved.