OK, now we've at least reached the premise of my question. It was based on the premise that setting up a hard border is what the EU would have to do.

So my question is, how does the EU think they're going to avoid this fate by ordering the UK to put the border down the Irish Sea instead? Are they just trying to threaten the UK with the force of their personality? If so, they're as useless gits as the UK ministers are, because that's pretty much the UK's attitude towards the EU.

This is kind of dismaying because up till now I've imagined the EU as smugly holding all the cards while the UK government fumphs around like clueless bumfodder. But now I'm wondering if they're both like that.