Shambolic surprises

When the hints in the media yesterday morning were all pointing towards a deal with the EU which included "regulatory alignment" of Northern Ireland with the EU, I began to think that Theresa May had pulled off the impossible - she had actually got the DUP to change its mind and back plans which they had previously implacably opposed. In all the media coverage last week, the DUP had made its position clear: no deal that meant a status for Northern Ireland different from the rest of the UK.

So when the deal fell apart yesterday, I was a bit surprised that everyone was surprised with the DUP's position. What they should really have been surprised about was the failure of Theresa May to get the DUP's support before going to Brussels to agree the deal that she thought was in the bag. This is an utterly shambolic approach to government.

Also shambolic is the government's blurring of its red lines. We were told Brexit means control of our borders but our only land border is to be open. Brexit was meant to let the UK make its own rules but part of the nation has been offered up as a place where the Single Market and the Customs Union will continue. Brexit promises also included £350 million a week for the NHS, not handing over £40 billion to the EU. The reality is that the leaders of Brexit have put forward impossible and unrealistic claims, drew red lines in the sand, and then spent the last year redrawing them while the government caved in to every EU requirement.

I have consistently argued that the national interest lies in being in the EU, arguing our case and shaping it to our needs. The alternative is to be a small nation bobbing along in the wake of the EU superpower. The past year has shown that we are slipping into this alternative role. Welcome to Brexit Britain.