My new black Brexit passport has arrived – I wonder how long before I need an EU one again

This week brought an odd moment for me, as my new black Brexit passport popped through the letterbox, a physical reminder of the fact that the endless weird fever-dream that has been British politics over the past five years is about to have consequences in real life. Deal or no deal, my passport tells me that from 1 January – just 13 weeks away – I’ll be standing in a different queue as I go through arrivals, I’ll need to allow time for delays next time I drive through Kent, and I really ought to get round to working out whether I also need new travel insurance, health cover and a different mobile phone package for any continental holidays I might be allowed to take in 2021. Meanwhile, once we arrive in the new post-Brexit reality, ministers can expect an immediate clamour from business for the return of the best elements of the world we’ve left, in terms of smoother trading relations with our nearest neighbours, mutual recognition of standards and qualifications, joint projects and so on. It’s not beyond the realms of possibility that this new PM might start looking for ways to reforge broken links, and that as the years go by the UK could gradually return, one step at a time, into the EU structures we have just shaken off.