Sherelle JACOBS

We need a clean Brexit – not a sellout agreement designed to meet the October 31 deadline

There is something over-eager about the idea of a “do or die deadline” – an already dangerous word smeared with a gratuitous dollop of Johnsonian rhetorical urgency. Ironically, a “deadline” was once a concept to be avoided, referring to a line prisoners could not cross, lest they be shot. And indeed, as the clock ticks, Brexiteers are starting to realise that the October 31 deadline could be lethal. For, if the PM feels pressured into accepting a bad deal for fear of breaking his promise, any hope of a clean Brexit could be killed off.

The belief in Westminster that any deal is better than delay has some logic. Brexit is adrenaline-free anticipation in the exhausted search of an ending. And, from the hyenish hysteria of Remainers to the soiled aroma of capitulating politicians, “nightmare” does not do justice to the desolate, multi-sensory torture of the last three-and-a-half years. It is also undeniable that, if there is a delay, many voters will defect to Nigel Farage, exasperated that another Tory PM has broken a sacred Brexit vow. But it would be a mistake to sign up to a worrying deal, for the sake of “October 31”. Many Leavers can smell the sickly seep of fudge and would prefer to go hungry for now.

This is not an intransigent or extreme position. Stabbing at a plate of Swedish meatballs, one Tory MP told me this week that the Brexiteers are “suffering from Stockholm Syndrome, terrified to leave Brexit purgatory”. But the idea that Leavers are reluctant to forsake the dystopian neatness of their spartan prison cells for the messy realism of a deal is wrong.

It all comes down to that patronising cuddle of a word, “compromise”. Centrists have manipulated its meaning to make it synonymous with the sludgy middle. In fact, compromise means “accepting standards that are lower than is desirable”. A delayed Brexit is not desirable, but many Leavers are coming round to the view that, as long as we leave cleanly within the next few months via a Johnsonfarage pact, it is just about acceptable. Some even go so far as to say that they would prefer to Remain than condemn their country to a crummy deal for the sake of a “win”. This is such a noble example of compromise that the majority will find it hard to compute it in this era of cynicism.

Some compromises are a compromise too far, though. Concessions that bind Britain to a regulatory level playing field with the EU are intolerable. So is the argument that ambiguous divergence between Northern Ireland and Great Britain is the price that Leavers must pay to see Brexit done. Some Brexiteers have even called for the UK to untether burdensome Belfast, grumbling that the Government spends more supporting it than it pays to Brussels.

But the chilly ecstasy of fiscal logic is no justification for the economic incarceration of Northern Ireland in the EU, partially or otherwise – even if the DUP can be bought off. The Union’s denigration for the sake of a deal would be a grotesque violation of the referendum’s spirit. Apart from democracy, Brexit is about pride. It stands for patriotic self-respect over national self-abasement, principled optimism over pragmatic pessimism, and geopolitical resistance against imperialistic abuse. The danger is that the expected divorce deal will amount to a “selfish Tory” Brexit – a rambling tract of fudge, failure and “f––– you”.

The devil will, of course, be in the detail. Still, Leavers have cause to be suspicious. Sadly, many Tories with their patrician attitude to political rectitude, would sell their own grandmother to save the family china – as we saw when so-called Brexiteers supported Theresa May’s dismal deal.

Morality aside, I doubt a deal will pass, not least because of Labour – which is already trying to block a Saturday parliamentary sitting to vote on it. Any politician who tries to make Northern Ireland Brexit’s sacrificial lamb risks ending up a lame duck.

Instead, a WTO exit may be the only way to solve the border issue. The EU, Ireland and Britain have all said they will never enforce a border.

And despite Remainer claims, what country would dare to take such a diplomatically hostile action as to lodge a complaint on the grounds that such an arrangement violates WTO rules? Even if there were customs duty checks on the island of Ireland, it is scaremongering to declare that this would fuel terrorism. The Irish authorities already police against excise duty offences, like smuggling booze and fuel across the border, without paramilitary backlashes.

In the Brexit era, the Tory party is politics with its knickers around its ankles – ridiculous, degraded, and shameless. But there is a road to redemption. I suspect the PM committed to his October 31 deadline knowing there was a significant chance he would not be able to honour his promise, and that he would deal with that crisis when he came to it.

This was the right assessment, made for the wrong reasons. Leavers who have had their intelligence insulted for the last three years may be tired, but they are clinging to their integrity for dear life. On balance then, a delay – if it paves the way to a clean Brexit – is better than a sellout.