About the only thing we can agree on in this country is that the prime minister's deal is not very good. Last week it was Daniel Hannan (HERE) urging MPs to vote it down and at the weekend he was joined by Charles Moore (HERE) who says the nation will be 'greatly harmed' by what he calls the PM's 'damage limitation' deal - a reference to how Nick Timothy, May's former chief of staff, described her approach to Brexit in a BBC interview recently (HERE). Moore is also calling on MPs to reject the deal.
In the country at large the percentage of people who think the PM has negotiated the right deal has now dropped to 17% according the the latest ORB monthly tracker (HERE). In February 2017, before Article 50 was triggered, 47% thought she would get a good deal. It has been slipping ever since and has now reached a new low, with further to go in my opinion.
The bright beckoning vision of the future that seemed in front of leavers on June 24th 2016 has given way to a succession of disappointingly cold, wet and miserable days on our way to a sort of permanent winter. The lamp that was lifted by the golden door has gone out and the door has disappeared. Nobody is happy but they just want to get something that looks vaguely like a poor man's Brexit when squinting through rose-tinted specs in a swirling fog at dusk.
Brexit was always going to be damage limitation. There is no way that we can leave the EU, the single market and the customs union painlessly.
So remainers and leavers may have more in common than we think. Both sides are unhappy with the deal although the ORB poll don't actually break the latest polling figures down by which way the respondents voted in 2016. What we cannot tell is how many don't like the deal because we will still be too close to the EU after Brexit and how many for the opposite reason, being too far away. It is the old question that we have still not resolved - or even asked.
This is in my opinion another reason to consider a second referendum. Until this basic question is answered the campaigning will never end.
It will be interesting to see how the PM's Brexit deal, assuming it ever gets parliamentary approval is going to be sold to the leave-voting public. The present direction of travel is clearly now towards the softer end of Brexit. MPs are unlikely to approve anything harder than her deal plus a few tweaks but would probably easily pass something much closer to Norway and the EEA.
Whatever the final outcome, we have given up a privileged seat at the top table of one of the world's three great trading blocs. We helped to set the rules and shape the policies. We could veto things we didn't like and even in areas we had no veto, our European colleagues did their best to accommodate our concerns. Seeking consensus wherever possible is a central tenet of EU thinking.
After Brexit we will drop down the rankings. As part of the EU we could look China and the USA in the eye as equals. Our economy as part of the EU, once vying with the USA for top spot, will be down to fifth, and probably seventh later this year as France and India overtake us. The UK will be diminished in every possible way.
Incidentally, in the most recent ORB poll people were asked how strongly they agreed with this statement: Having greater control over immigration is more important than having access to free trade with the EU. We are at 47% disagreeing with it while only 40% agree, a complete reversal of opinion back in early 2017. Is the penny dropping? Not at No 10 apparently where the PM is sticking to her anti-immigration views.
On this subject, the ONS has released figures (HERE) showing overall net migration at 283,000 has gone UP in the year to last September. EU migration has fallen by 70% to the lowest figure since 2009 while migration from the rest of the world has shot up. It is a demonstration of what a difficult issue migration is for this country.
But does it mean Farage will soon be demanding we withdraw from the planet?
