Theresa May’s Brexit deal is just a woolly and contradictory wishlist that barely binds Brussels to anything

Woolly wishlist

THERESA May did a decent job defending her Brexit deal yesterday.

But it is still just a woolly and even contradictory wishlist that barely binds Brussels to anything.

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The cost of these vague promises? Some 39 thousand million pounds.

This “political declaration” about the future is predicated on Brussels negotiating a trade deal in good faith, a ­quality they have never shown since the referendum result they are even now desperate to overthrow.

Why would their puerile desire to “punish” Britain abate once we nominally leave next March Especially when under the terms now agreed they can trap us in the Customs Union for ever?

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The PM claims the EU wouldn’t want us there, benefiting from it for free, having ended free movement. But that’s a price Brussels will surely pay to cripple us as a trading rival on their doorstep.

That said, the deal is NOT all bad.

Downing Street rightly trumpets that it ends free movement and our massive membership subscription, protects jobs and secures our fishing rights (for now).

And Mrs May, to her considerable credit, pushed the EU into an extraordinary U-turn over a high-tech solution to police the Irish border. Remember how glibly they once sneered at that idea?

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Trouble is, who trusts them not to change heart again if the appalling “Irish backstop” alternative suits them?

The trade deal may take years. Anyone could veto it: Spain over Gibraltar. Or the Belgian Walloons who almost wrecked the EU/Canada deal. We would be stuck.

And while Mrs May’s deal enshrines our right to an independent trade policy, it also says any new partnership with the EU must “build on” a single customs territory.

That’s why Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab quit — it ­scuppers any deals elsewhere.

The one straw we clutch is that Jeremy Corbyn isn’t negotiating.

None of his scripted lines, nor his brow furrowed in supposed concentration, can hide that the entire debate sails over his head.

Don’t imagine the chaos couldn’t be worse.

Dam right

WE heartily approve of primary kids being tasked with damming streams, canoeing and playing conkers.

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Sure, it’s a bit Swallows And Amazons. And a big ask in Moss Side or Tower Hamlets. But children do spend far too much time gawping at screens.

Education Secretary Damian Hinds wants that to change. All power to him.

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Web of evil

FOR years The Sun has condemned the web giants for facilitating terrorism.

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Now MPs have concluded the same: Google and Facebook are a “safe haven” for online extremists who radicalise and mould killers.

If they will not purge their sites, vast fines must force them.
When will that happen?