FORGET THE POSTURING AND POLITICKING.

Now that Theresa May has sent her letter officially informing the European Union of the UK's intention to leave their inward looking little club, the politicking and positioning has begun.

Mrs May's letter gave an indication of some of the UK's hopes and expectations and the EU's response has, not unexpectedly, indicated some differences in approach. Much of the media has concentrated on highlighting these differences and has been at pains to tell us how difficult this is all going to be and how the EU will now be in charge of the negotiations and pulling all the strings; what idiots they are.

The EU needs the UK at least as much as the UK needs the EU. Of course there will be some contentious areas that cause difficulty but there can be no doubt that there will be agreement and it will be achieved without real problems, though our political masters will make it seem that things are terribly difficult and even dangerous, mostly in order to be able to eventually demonstrate how clever they are and how bad life would be without them saving us from disaster.

Forget all of the current exchanges, all of the media analysis and expert comment; this is all for the benefit of voters across Europe and maintaining the media's own high opinion of itself, and has nothing to do with reality. The best thing we can do is to close our ears to the deafening racket that will surround us over the next 2 years and simply wait for the final agreement to be published. It won't satisfy everyone, but it will be the best that BOTH sides can achieve.