Phase 1 is complete, long live Phase 2

Congratulations, Theresa May. After a frenetic few months of diplomacy and a nightmare start to the week, Britain has finally succeeded in placating both Dublin and the DUP and has been given a green light to proceed to “phase 2” of the Brexit talks.

As Theresa May explained in an early-morning press conference in Brussels, the hope on the Irish border issue is that the free- trade deal that the UK gets with the European Union is going to be so free and easy that the North-South border will be transparent anyway; and if it doesn’t get that kind of deal, it will just come up with “specific solutions”.

Or, to put it another way, all the drama of this week has been misplaced, because the Irish issue – which has always been about trade – won’t actually be addressed until the phase 2, the trade phase, anyway.

On the European Court of Justice question, the second obstacle to phase 2, the terms are a little clearer. The agreement contains an eight-year “sunset clause” on the court’s role as the final arbiter of the rights of EU citizens living in the U.K. after Brexit, and requires U.K. courts to have “due regard” (this is less opaque than it sounds, “due regard” is a well understood legal term) to decisions of the ECJ taken after the U.K. leaves the EU.

The response to the news has been largely positive. Tory MPs have been “on message” and are congratulating their leader on her moment of victory (though their patronising tweets, only highlight just how weakened the PM is) and the pound has remained stable.

But of course, not everyone is jumping for joy. A belligerent Nicola Sturgeon has used the opportunity to push for Indy Ref 2, arguing that if the UK is able to avoid a hard border with Ireland/Northern Ireland post Brexit, the government “can’t tell Scotland that independence would mean a hard border between Scotland and UK” (not that she’s obsessed or anything), and DUP MPs, who are still feeling twitchy after almost being thrown under the bus on Monday, say that they would like “further clarification” on what will happen if the “free and easy” trade deal doesn’t come to pass. Tusk’s confirmation that during any transition period Britain will have to “accept and respect all EU law”, including any new rules, without having a say in their setting has not gone down well either, with critics say this will mean Britain becomes a “law-taker not a law-maker”.

Oh, and Arron Banks, founder of rogue leave campaign Leave.EU,  has just accused May of being a ‘traitor’ and called on Tory MPs “with an ounce of backbone” to trigger a leadership contest. So that’s fun.