TIME FOR UK TO WALK AWAY FROM BREXIT TALKS.

Today it's reported that the European Union wants the UK to find a "unique solution" to the issues surrounding the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. This will, of course, be the only land border between the UK and EU once Brexit has become a reality and has been put forward as a matter of critical importance.

However, the EU's stance is really little more than a continuation of its overall approach to the Brexit negotiations. At every turn, the EU negotiators have thrown up issues and then demanded that the UK produce the solutions; the 'divorce bill', migration and now the Northern Ireland border are just three such issues. By taking this approach, the EU is attempting to put itself on the moral high ground, effectively saying that the UK has offended and must now atone by finding all of the answers to all of the questions. It also means that the EU can wait to see what the UK is prepared to offer and then claim that whatever is offered is insufficient and that more is required; this way, the EU will remain in total control unless the UK government adopts a much harder line.

Surely it is for the EU to tell the UK what terms it is prepared to offer the UK and not the other way round. If I leave an organisation but say I would like to stay connected, it is the organisation which sets the agenda, not I. It is the organisation which sets out how I may stay connected and under what conditions, it is not I who tells it what I'm prepared to offer. The UK government has made clear that it wants to continue to have a close relationship with the EU while withdrawing from its legal oversight; it is now for the EU to set out the terms under which such an arrangement might be reached.

Thus far, it has been intransigent, insisting on terms which would effectively mean that while no longer being a member of the EU, the UK would have to abide by the majority of its laws, rules and diktats. It also expects the UK to make a financial offer, something which is utterly inappropriate. Given this stance, the UK's negotiator's should simply walk away, pay nothing and leave the EU to stew in its own juice.