Are we on the verge of committing an extraordinary act of self-harm?

In an area like food hygiene, explains Sam Lowe at the Centre for European Reform, the UK cannot benefit from the absence of checks to food exports to Switzerland and Norway. They will be subject to the same full border inspections as the EU is demanding in the event of a ‘no deal’. “The Swiss and Norway agreements could only be bare bones in a ‘no deal’ world since so much is dependent on the EU-UK relationship. It was pitched as a ‘we’ve done it’, when in reality it’s only the start of a process,” he tells me.