Brexit: the endgame (Pt 2)

• The EU has said repeatedly that it will not renegotiate the Withdrawal Agreement.
• The time required for ratification and the passage of the necessary legislation through Parliament will make the 31 October deadline difficult to achieve.

The Institute for Government has published a timely and sobering assessment of the difficulties of a No Deal exit from the EU. It suggests two reasons making No Deal likely.

• First, while Boris Johnson says the Irish ‘backstop’ must go, the EU has said repeatedly that it will not renegotiate the Withdrawal Agreement and in particular that it will not consider removing the Irish ‘backstop’.
• Second, even if the EU were willing to negotiate, the time required for ratification and the passage of the necessary legislation through Parliament would make the 31 October deadline difficult to achieve.

The problems before 31 October

There will be no ‘managed no deal’

The EU had made it clear that without a formal