Nobody, outside the ranks of Britain’s Brexiteer ultras, thinks that ending our transition out of the European Union’s single market and customs union without having secured some kind of trade deal is a good idea. Indeed, it’s becoming increasingly obvious that business – whether we’re talking about outfits like the CBI or individual firms such as Nissan – is beginning to panic about the possibility.
The obvious way for the government to calm these nerves, especially since so little progress seems to have been made so far in negotiations with Brussels, would be to agree an extension with the EU. But this presents it with two problems.
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