The EU/UK trade deal is a reason to rejoice, not whinge!

I was a Remainer and will always be a Remainer, believing it to be in the best interests of the UK to be part of the European Union. Brexit ruined that. But now Boris has got us a trade deal at the last moment I am the first to say it's a huge relief and it's time to make the best of what we've got. Of course there will be major problems and challenges over the next few years, but so there would have been if we had stayed in the EU. There are always challenges in this manifestly competitive world. But now we have the deal let us hope that the whingeing will stop. A deal is so much better than the no-deal future being mapped out for us only a few days ago. So, the fisheries agreement is not ideal, there will be a five-and-a-half-year transition period but the fishing industry will survive and hopefully there will be no cod or hake or prawn wars. The senior French official who spoke to Reuters and boasted that the UK had backed down massively over fish and it was a victory for French fishermen should be ashamed of himself or herself. The message from both sides of the English Channel should be one of shared friendship and mutual respect. We have a deal, that's brilliant. Let's stop all the cross-channel claims and counter-claims and victory-boasting. Next year is going to be a good year with the vaccine programme getting into its stride. The trade deal makes it look even more hopeful.