[Sephiroth]

Originally Posted by 1andrew1

I've not actually said the latter and you've still not advised me what cards we hold. You know everything is a question of trade-offs and hopefully appreciate you can't have your cake and eat it.

You're still wriggling, Andrew. You want a "deft negotiator" (no objection there) to bring the UK into a better relationship with the EU knowing that the EU holds all the cards. By reductio ad absurdum, you are content that whatever emerges will advantage the EU more than the UK - the EU would call the shots going forward. That is unacceptable.

As to the cards held by the UK, I take your point well. But your point is predicated on improving relations with the EU. We don't need to improve relations, imo. If we hold any cards, it's "deftly" getting the blame for any disruption or disorder in NI blamed on the EU.