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But, we have nearly left the EU haven't we? After all, we keep hearing about this deal. We must be nearly there by now, surely?
Just because some of us are immersed in this stuff, many of us are not. Back in the real world where people are trying to find their bus passes, generally keep warm, or asking who will do the school pick-up, Brexit is not everyone's first and overwhelming thought.
In the margins, there are the headlines on the six o'clock news telling you Theresa May has a "deal" agreed to by Brussels -- and she is off to sell it to the nation.
A "deal" implies you got more than what you bargained hard or hoped for, or that someone threw in an extra bottle of Fairy Liquid for free.
Theresa May is misusing the term "deal". What she is calling a "deal" is a literal deceit to the nation. This "deal" is anything but good for Great Britain.
This "deal" will cost the British taxpayer, 60 billion euros; require that the British still comply with EU rules without having any say in what those will be, and worst of all, it permits the British to leave the EU only if the EU agrees. As Nigel Farage, former UKIP leader and one of creators of Brexit, asks, "Why should it?"
This "deal" effectively commits the British to subjugation by the EU in perpetuity, with no recourse should the British change their mind. It is a prison. It is also the first step of the EU toward its dream of global governance: unaccountable, untransparent, unelected by the public, and with no way out.
The French will still be able to fish in British waters, and the Spanish will claim that the UK will have to open talks on the sovereignty of Gibraltar. As Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has said, "Once the UK has left the EU, Gibraltar's political, legal and even geographic relationship with the EU will go through Spain..."
New trade barriers would also be put in place between Northern Ireland and Great Britain, fundamentally undermining the constitutional and economic integrity of the United Kingdom.
This "deal" is, in reality, a sell-out. Farage has described it as "The worst deal in history"; even more wretched, as he points out, is that -- as one cannot leave it without the EU's permission -- it offers Britain even less sovereignty than it has now.
Theresa May and her Remainers are counting on this deceit as well as the utter fatigue of Conservative constituents -- an understandable impatience of voters for Brexit to be "over" with it -- to push her sordid "deal" over the line.
We must not allow this to happen.
There must be no "deal" -- apart from the one for which the British voted and were repeatedly promised (falsely as it turns out) would be honoured.
The "deal" as it now stands is nothing more than a surrender to the EU, the Germans, the French and the Spanish. We shall remain in the Customs Union; the transition period could be extended beyond two years; the "backstop" can only end with EU agreement; the EU will still control our laws and there will be customs checks in the Irish Sea; Northern Ireland will be treated differently, and we will be paying 60 billion euros to be able not to walk out the door.
May's offer is a surrender. "Leave" voters need to look at this surrender to the EU and dig deep, to June 23, 2016, and what you voted for: To take back control of our country, our laws and our British people first.
There is still, however, a way out of this mess; an easy alternative. Theresa May's Surrender is not the only deal possible -- no matter how many times you hear May and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker repeat each other's scripted talking points.
The solution is No Deal. Without any further action, the UK's membership of the EU will lapse on March 29, 2019, and unless that majority can unite around a viable alternative, we will leave, and be free of the EU.
Even better, the UK would be out of the EU with no strings attached and no agreement in place. According to a House of Lords report, there would be no legal obligation for the UK to make any payment as part of a financial settlement.
With no new trade agreement with the EU, the rules of the World Trade Organization would apply and Great Britain would be free to sign trade agreements around the world as soon as it could finalise them.
Those peddling confusion -- including the BBC -- will talk in terms of "crashing out" with no deal -- invoking images of cars overturned, planes ablaze and people screaming.
They are wrong. We will not crash anywhere. We are British. We will leave politely, without a deal, and apologise when someone else stands on our foot.
We will not run out of drinking water, bacon sandwiches, insulin or ferries. Online marketers would smell an opportunity and in an instant fill it for profit. There is whole world market out there, not just Europe. Leaving is our golden opportunity to take a cue from our economically savvy friends across the Pond and "Make Britain Great Again."
So, dig in deep for a No Deal Brexit. Do not let your MP capitulate to May's Surrender.
A No Deal Brexit is exactly what most of us voted for. All we need now is a leader prepared to deliver it.
David Brown is based in the United Kingdom.
