A deal at last, now get on with Brexit!

AFTER countless rows, repeated standoffs and endless posturing (mostly from the EU), the torturous weeks and months of negotiations are over. It’s a deal, at last.

This was a point many had begun to fear we would never reach. That we have is a tribute to the Prime Minister’s determination and resilience, and Theresa May positively bounded out of No 10 yesterday to announce that, after exit terms were secured last week, there is also an agreement on a framework for the future.

Barring any last-minute hiccups, both sides will sign on the dotted line at an EU Council on Sunday.

Of course, the deal is far from perfect, but only a fool would think we could extract ourselves from our decades-long EU membership without compromise.

Determined Leavers will doubtless groan at the likelihood of a longer transition lasting as far as 2022, and fear the EU rowing back on the 26-page document published yesterday which, unlike the divorce deal, is not legally enforceable.

To avoid a hard border in Northern Ireland, Mrs May has agreed to a customs arrangement which could yet put a straitjacket around independent trade deals. Our route out is far from clear, although in a late concession the EU has agreed to examine a technological fix.

But Mrs May can also point to significant wins. Tariff and quota-free trade will continue. Fishing rights – a totemic issue for many – will be restored, highlighting the nonsensical SNP position which would force an independent Scotland back under the reign of Brussels.

Once the £37billion divorce bill is paid, the years of gargantuan contributions to Brussels will end, as will the writ of European judges. And, critically, free movement will end, giving the UK back powers to control immigration.

After a tumultuous week in Westminster, when resignations came thick and fast and threat of a leadership challenged loomed large, Mrs May has steadied the ship.

Polls suggest the botched coup may even have swung the public behind her.

The very least her Tory critics owe her is to consider the deal carefully and speak to constituents before rushing to judgment.

With barely three months until Brexit day, their choices are narrowing sharply. Do they want a deal which, for all its imperfections, delivers on the referendum result and provides for an orderly and pragmatic departure? Or do they choose the economic chaos of no deal or even the prospect of no Brexit at all.

Emphatically, the Mail urges them: back the deal.