This lot does not even agree with itself about what it wants, or is deliberately making an effort to appear that way. One day the chancellor of the Exchequer (effectively n.2 in gov, the one with actual hands on the purse-string) says “screw alignment, we don’t need the EU, the Americans are our best friend”; the next the Prime Minister says “screw Americans, they are bullies, the EU is still our best friend”; and the chancellor goes “he’s right, I don’t know what I was thinking the other day”.

In the next 12 months, the public won’t be able to believe a single word coming from government that might involve (even tangentially) trade negotiations.