[Sephiroth]

Originally Posted by joglynne

Maybe whoever wants to take the lead in the future knows that doing so now would buy them a poison chalice.

An interesting point. There are crunch points coming.
31-October is one when the 3 month grace on NI expires; the court cases whenever they are re-invoked will be another.

The EU holds the trade agreement over the UK's head if we default on the NI Protocol and what's more the EU decides on whether or not the UK has defaulted.

So, the wobble point now is GB/NI trade. My understanding is that the UK intends to honour the customs border in the Irish sea, though the necessary systems appear not to be ready. However the meat products trade is likely to remain the flash point on which someone needs to bend over. I don't think Boris has the balls to stand firm after the grace extension finishes. So expect the EU to get difficult and pretend that they were always reasonable.