[pluma]

Really it seems like Ireland and Spain are the most interested parties when it comes to negotiating with post-EU Britain. And if you look at UK land borders it should be obvious why that is.

This is what's most frustrating about Brexiters complaining about the "unreasonable" offer by the EU. It's not "the EU" imposing those terms, it's the interested parties.

[louisswiss]

I'm by no means an expert, but I wonder if it isn't actually the 'uninterested' EU parties who are turning this into a 'bad' deal for the UK.

After all, with little to lose personally from a poor UK-EU trading deal, those uninterested parties have a much stronger incentive to push for other things they find important (such as freedom of movement).

[growlist]

The whole EU is inevitably diminished by the UK's departure, firstly due to the loss of prestige, and secondly by the loss of budget contributions. The funny thing is that truly the EU's options are strictly limited, because it will suffer massively if it punishes the UK, and thus it cannot afford to do it. British politicians just need to remind Brussels that they are not dealing with Greece.