Editorial Comment:

Suddenly, the Brexit endgame is upon us. Senior cabinet ministers will gather in Downing Street this evening to be updated on the latest state of play amid signs that a withdrawal agreement with the EU could be concluded at a summit meeting in Brussels next week. Brexiteers like Boris Johnson are alarmed by what they believe is the basis of the deal – that the UK stays in a customs union with the EU until such a time as the Irish border matter can be fully resolved through the use of technology to obviate the need for a “hard” frontier. In truth, this option has been available all along and will, in any case, apply during the transition phase to 2020. But in order to square the circle of her “backstop” pledges, Theresa May has had to go further than that.

To avoid treating Northern Ireland differently from the rest of the UK – which is anathema to her and the 10 DUP MPS propping up her Government – she appears to have conceded that the whole country will retain the same arrangements.

At some point in the future, though we do not yet know when, the UK will break away, possibly towards a Canada-style trade relationship; or perhaps not. Will we be any the wiser about where the country is headed if this turns out to be the framework for the agreement?

Michel Barnier, the EU negotiator, was sufficiently emboldened by the prospect of an agreement yesterday to set out the terms, prompting Mr Johnson to accuse No 10 of “negotiating a ‘backstop’ that makes the UK a permanent EU colony.” This is a serious charge but what are the Conservative Brexiteers now proposing to do about it?

The Cabinet could block the proposals; but if they do then Mrs May’s days will be numbered. If they support her, which looks more likely, how far will Tory backbenchers then push their opposition when it comes to crunch votes in the Commons?

Moreover, if it is the case that Northern Ireland will stay in the single market, but not the rest of the UK, how will that go down with the DUP, whose 10 votes will be critical to the Government’s chances? An agreement between the UK and the EU would still need to be ratified by 27 member states and voted on by the European parliament. If all that happens, and a deal is signed off, the Brussels phase of this saga will be over. The Westminster battle is about to begin.