Johnson's Christmas "present"

 More substantial criticism of the EU trade deal will have to wait until the quality prints have unearthed the fine print in the 1,246 pages. However, ones first response to the extensive trailing and then the extensive delays in reporting the agreement was that the major stock and bond exchnnges had conveniently closed for the Christmas break by the time our prime minister came to the podium. The sticking points over fisheries, certificates of origin and adjudication of disputes had vanished remarkably quickly after the time when elected parliaments in Westminster and Brussels could debate the issues. One trusts that Johnson has not underestimated the readiness of rogue heads of government in the EU to veto the agreement, which requires unanimity on the part of the 27 governments for endorsement.

One disturbing detail which was revealed - at the EU's presentation, not the UK's - concerns crimianl intelligence, which is no longer to be shared by the UK's police forces and those of the EU.

Our young people will no longer be able to benefit from the Erasmus programme.  Non-tariff hurdles will be erected, though to what extent we will not know until the detailed analysis is carried out, in spite of Johnson's protestations to the contrary. Nor does any agreement seem to have been reached on service industries, including financial services. What will be the future of the "London Laundromat" on which so much of our apparent prosperity depends? Then there is our reduced effectiveness against multi-national companies, whose anti-competitive and exploitative behaviour the EU has proved notably able to curb.

However, we should be grateful for zero tariffs across (presumably) all traded goods. One of the potential drivers of inflation in 2021 has been removed. The extra bureaucracy will be substantial, but not as much as if we had left the single market without a deal. 

The EU stands for peace and prosperity. It is just a pity that England and Wales in the general election last year took their eye off the first of those pillars. But it could have been much worse.