A UK/EU trade deal is beyond hope

Every time Boris or an EU leader speak they have to admit that the chasm is just too great to fill. It was always like that but the politicians continued to raise hopes because it was so clearly in the interest of both sides to reach a compromise agreement. The no-deal alternative was too awful to contemplate. But now it's going to happen. Boris had a fancy dinner with the president of the European Commission, Germany's former defence secretary - and not a very good one - and apart from filling their bellies with scallops and turbot they achieved nothing. Because what has to be achieved is no longer achievable. There never was going to be a compromise because the EU could not allow a former member of the EU to enjoy total sovereignty AND trade with the EU as if we had never left. So the new deadline for a deal is Sunday. If an agreement is reached between now and then it will be one that brings Boris's downfall. So Boris will not yield. Boris cannot yield. From January 1 this country will be on its own, unloved by Europe, and judging by the headlines in the papers this afternoon, unable to fly or drive to the European continent. I expect that's nonsense but that's what they are all saying. A grim future indeed. There are many lovely people who voted to leave the EU in the June 23 2016 referendum but I can't imagine they thought it would end up like this.