Some Trade, Not Much Cooperation: The Hard Brexit Deal
| Date | 01 March 2021 |
| DOI | 10.1177/20419058211001000 |
| Published date | 01 March 2021 |
| Author | Simon Usherwood |
26 POLITICAL INSIGHT • MARCH 2021
Even before COVID, it was evident
that 2020 was going to be a
difficult one for British politics.
The December 2019 General
Election might have given Boris Johnson
the majority he needed to push through
the Withdrawal Agreement with the
European Union that had bedevilled the
previous three years, but that merely
opened the door to the next phase
of Brexit – working out what a new
relationship with the EU might look like.
The Withdrawal Agreement was focused
on ending the old relationships: finding
Some Trade, Not
Much Cooperation:
The Hard Brexit Deal
On Christmas Eve, Boris Johnson concluded a Brexit agreement with
his EU counterparts. But what did the Prime Minister agree to? Simon
Usherwood examines the Brexit deal and finds that many questions
about Britain’s future remain unresolved.
arrangements to tie up financial liabilities,
securing commitments on citizens’
rights and the Irish border. But it was
never meant to be the be-all and end-all
of the process. Alongside it, a Political
Declaration announced the intention
of both sides to pursue a new set of
negotiations on an ‘ambitious, broad, deep
and flexible partnership’, that would reflect
the proximity and importance of each to
the other.
The obvious fly in the ointment was
that the repeated extensions of the Article
© Press Association
Political Insight March 2021.indd 26Political Insight March 2021.indd 26 15/02/2021 14:2915/02/2021 14:29
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