“The problems we have faced in trying to leave the EU stand as a testament to how right the Brexiters were all along: this isn’t a simple trading block, it is far, far, more. And disentangling the relationship has likewise proved far more complicated than many people – including most high-profile Brexiters – ever imagined… the period since the referendum has ended the careers of two prime ministers, eight cabinet ministers and over 80 MPs… We’ve learned so much about our country and its institutions since June 2016. Yet the real decisions are still to be made…

“Four years hence, as we turn our minds to the next election, politics may have repositioned itself around a more traditional left-right axis; a berated and battered civil service may have retained its core values; Scotland may have voted for independence from the UK… And, of course, a majority government may have made parliament reassuringly boring again. But beware. Boredom is a dangerous thing. The choices stemming from Brexit are arguably more significant than the choice to leave in the first place. How paradoxical if, at the moment when the real decisions are being made, our interest starts to falter.”
Anand Menon, The Guardian

“Johnson has promised he will not extend this transition period beyond 2020, giving the UK and EU less than 11 months to figure out their future partnership. This isn’t impossible to achieve, but it’s going to be very, very difficult. If the EU and UK can’t reach an agreement at the end of the year, the possibility of a no-deal looms once again. Experts say that could still be damaging and extraordinarily disruptive, especially if tariffs and increased customs checks lead to backlogs at ports, which could mean shortages in food and other goods. So although Brexit will be official on January 31, the uncertainty over it definitely won’t be over.”
Jen Kirby, Katelyn Burns, and Matthew Yglesias, Vox

“Britain must negotiate a trade deal governing future commercial relations with Europe by the end of the year — a perhaps impossible deadline — or risk expensive disruption with its largest trading partner… Europe’s recent trade deals with Canada and Japan took seven years. Still, Mr. Johnson has repeatedly ruled out extending the transition date…

“If Mr. Johnson holds firm, that raises two potential outcomes, neither conducive to expanding fortunes. Either Britain and Europe strike a narrow trade deal that governs some manufactured goods, while leaving out services — the bulk of the British economy — or Britain crashes out of the European bloc with no deal at all. Even the threat of a no-deal exit would entail costly mayhem, as companies on both sides of the English Channel stockpile goods in anticipation of customs snafus and choked ports. That is what unfolded for much of last year as the British political system lurched toward a Brexit deadline without an agreed-upon plan, bringing a no-deal scenario into stark relief.”
Peter S. Goodman, New York Times

“Brexit won’t mark the end of Britain’s zero-sum politics… There was already something broken in the liberal status quo, long before Britain voted to leave the EU. Liberal societies have entrenched asymmetries of power and inequalities of wealth to a degree that citizens no longer see each other as equals. When some are rich and others are poor, when some are highly articulate and others haven’t completed GCSEs, when some have multiple houses and others are condemned to be homeless, the imperative to patiently listen to the other side is not just unrealistic: it is insulting to those who persistently lose out.”
Lea Ypi, The Guardian