[eadmund]

> Leaving the EU didn't mean it got to sail away to a new place, it just meant no longer having a powerful seat at the table.

Not necessarily: it could also mean that rather than being one voice among 28 in negotiations, they are now one voice against one (the EU as a whole). Potentially. More pessimistically, 3.6 trillion versus 19.4 (in terms of GDP). Or more pessimistically still, as you indicate, no voice versus one.

I think that the truth is somewhere between those options.