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The war is over, according to Nigel Farage, who is sometimes called, among other, ruder, things “the godfather of Brexit”. Certainly the divisions on the right of British politics, including the bitter fratricide among Conservatives, may now be drawing to a conclusion. Now the “deal” is done, most Conservatives and even the followers of Farage seem disinclined to reject it. There will no doubt be some Spartans who will defy the whip, some Unionists who will complain loudly, and voices from the Brexit Party and Ukip about “betrayal”, but these will be really the last knockings of their conflict.  For Labour, its civil war over Europe is about to ignite. Where the Tories are now, of necessity, uniting on a policy, if only because it is a fact of life, Labour is starting to fracture. The reported threat of a half dozen or so shadow ministers to quit the front bench over the vote on the deal may be just the start of the trouble. Keir Starmer has publicly declared he will tell his party to vote for the “thin” deal, because the realistic alternative is the ultimate horror of a no-deal Brexit. He has good reasons to do so. The voters dislike or don’t understand why a major party would abstain on such an issue – “sitting on the fence” is not a great look for a statesman. Labour’s pro-Brexit voters, especially in the “red wall” seats, might regard an abstention or rejection as precisely the kind of elitist posturing that turned them away from the party before. And he does not wish to have to listen to Boris Johnson teasing him about having no policy and ignoring the will of the people.  His opponents, though, feel equally strongly about supporting a key Johnson policy and one they believe is a disaster and will be seen as a disaster – in which case it will be harder for them to attack something they voted for. Figures such as Emily Thornberry, shadow international trade secretary, and shadow chancellor Annaliese Dodds, committed pro-Europeans, reportedly argued in shadow cabinet against voting for the deal, though not to the point of resignation over it. They, and the shadow junior ministers who appear set to stand down on a matter of principle, represent a substantial body of opinion in the party that is bitterly disappointed by Brexit and, so far as possible, wish to reverse or at least revise it.   More

Given that fisheries represent less than 1 per cent of national income in the UK and France – the principal protagonists – it is difficult for many to understand why this comparatively small industry is hindering any Brexit trade deal. Yet the obstacles are still formidable, even though progress on key areas is being made. Britain has, reportedly, made a generous offer of a five-year transition period, about 65 per cent of the catch available to the EU, plus a joint procedure for allocating quotas and managing disputes.  Even so, it will mean hardship for the fisherfolk of France, the Netherlands, Ireland, Belgium and Denmark, who have enjoyed some access to British waters for centuries (give or take a few wars), and by treaty and then the EU Common Fisheries Policy since the 1960s. Now that Britain is to be an “independent coastal state” with a 200-mile exclusive economic zone, such access is jeopardised.  At the same time, though, there are many more fish out there than the British could consume, even if they tried, processing imported fish (also from Iceland and Norway) has become a bigger industry and needs EU markets, and some British trawlers may wish to continue fishing for particular species in European waters. More

However Brexit eventually pans out, it should mean the end of the Tories’ three-decade-long civil war on Europe. No doubt the “Spartan” warriors of the European Research Group will engage in some guerrilla tactics from time to time, but, for the Conservatives, the battle should be done. The “party of Europe”, which took the UK in under Ted Heath in 1973, and which pioneered the single market under Margaret Thatcher in 1986, is now the “party of Brexit”. The pro-Europeans have either been purged or quietened by the 2019 election result. ‘However, Brexit is now looking to become a much more tricky issue for Her Majesty’s Opposition. More

If Boris Johnson manages to secure a deal with the European Union in the coming days, the government will need to act rapidly to ensure the necessary legislation is passed before the end of the transition period on 31 December. Despite the House of Commons rising for the Christmas recess on Thursday, MPs have already been put on standby and warned they should expect their festivities to be disrupted and parliament to be recalled if white smoke emerges in Brussels after months of fraught negotiations.“Parliament has shown it can move at pace and the country would expect nothing less,” a No 10 source said. “The process of recall will align with the process for finalising the legislation for a deal, if one is secured, and no time will be lost.  More

In his first public comment since the announcement of his departure from government, Dominic Cummings, the prime minister’s former chief adviser, has written for The Spectator about the danger to the world of nuclear annihilation. He berates us all for largely ignoring “issues of existential importance”, while “our political systems incentivise politicians to focus more on Twitter and gossip-column stories about their dogs”.He has a point, both about Twitter and about dogs, but the truth is that most people can’t stand too much reality, and we don’t want to spend all our time talking about nuclear, chemical and biological weapons proliferation because we have a virus pandemic taking up most of our worrying time.  Of course he did not mean just Twitter and dogs: they are examples of the short-termism and superficiality of politics; but he might as well rail about the weather. Politicians will use Twitter if they think it will help them win elections; and the prime minister will put his dog on a Christmas card with a bit of tinsel round its neck if he thinks it will help him come across as likeable.   More

These were brought in during one of the perennial spats between the EU and the US about state aid to their respective aerospace industries, and specifically to Airbus and Boeing, respectively. Both the Europeans and the Americans have been found “guilty” of such prohibited subsidies under World Trade Organisation rules. The US slapped tariffs on EU-sourced cheese, olives and Scotch whisky, while the EU retaliated by taxing imports of sugar, fitness machines and Boeing products. The aircraft dispute was only the latest in a long running low-intensity trade war between America and Europe over strategic industries such as aerospace and steel, and in which politically sensitive targets from swing constituencies or symbolic national targets such as French champagne and American Harley-Davidson motorbikes were the weapons of choice. More

There are unusually optimistic noises emanating from Brussels and London about the progress of the trade talks. The leader of the House of Commons, Jacob Rees-Mogg, hints that parliament could sit next week to approve the deal in time for Santa’s delivery of gifts to the nation’s kiddies, who could all thus get Brexit for Christmas.  Could the EU-UK partnership agreement be ready so soon? Is it now “done”, now to emerge from the oven? Might it all be over by Christmas?  The answer,  as so often with Brexit, is “yes and no”. Formally there isn’t the time to do things by the book. When Boris Johnson set a deadline of 15 October to decide whether it was worth carrying on with talks it was for a good reason, (even if the deadline was subsequently ignored). That was the last practical date whereby the new trade treaty could be properly ratified (probably) by all interested parties. Mid-October, in other words, was the last moment to draft the final legal text of around 800 pages (plus annexes), have it translated into 23 official languages, examined in detail in committees and the chambers of about 30 different assemblies and parliaments, niggles cleared up, and ratified across 27 member states plus the UK.   More