Brexit talks a shambles from the off

So, exactly a year after the referendum, our Brexit talks have finally groaned into action, prefaced at the insistence of the EU’s chief negotiator Michel Barnier by discussion of the three issues which he had ruled must be resolved before there can be any talks on a trade deal.

On the first, the post-Brexit status of EU and UK citizens, despite our being told that this is going well, much still remains to be argued over, such as the role of the European Court of Justice.

The second issue is the so-called “divorce bill” we have to pay for our share in all those ongoing financial commitments under the EU budget we have already signed up to as members. This, I was estimating here last summer, is likely to end up at £30-40billion. But the final figure cannot be calculated until the end of the EU’s current Multiannual Financial Framework in 2020.

The third issue, the Northern Irish border, cannot be resolved until we have agreed the nature of our future trading arrangements with the EU. So by a Catch-22, we can’t discuss trade until we’ve agreed about Northern Ireland, which we can’t discuss until we’ve agreed about trade. What a shambles it is all already becoming.