It is impossible not to be both cynical and angry about the government’s “future partnership paper” on customs arrangements with the EU, which was published on Tuesday. Those discussions, which aim to reach some agreements in October, are not about future customs arrangements. The paper speculates about ways in which future customs arrangements could be made simple and frictionless – as they are at the moment. That, though, is too hot for the Tory party. There is, nevertheless, a substantive policy announcement in the customs paper.

Source: The Guardian August 15, 2017 17:26 UTC