To be clear the term transition and the term grace period are not quite the same. That said if Gove had been asked seven months ago if there was to be a Grace Period following our departure from the EU we can be reasonably confident that he would have denied the need for it as he was one of the Ministers who told us that our departure would go well throughout the last 55 months and indeed I recall on the Tuesday before the vote took place that he told us all on the Radio that if we voted to leave on Thursday that we would be ready to go on the Friday. However he also told us on many occasions that we were aiming for a No Deal so perhaps he is simply not very honest or incapable of knowing what will happen. Certainly his reference to the challenges as not being a teething problem is where the difference between Grace and Transition becomes less credible. After all he was someone who was dealing with our departure and he was responsible for resolving the issues ahead of time. That said given that Arlene Foster and her colleagues approved the Deal on the few days between Christmas and the end of the Year 2020, she is now calling for a different arrangement and we are barely into February 2021 suggests that she is one of many others who is also incapable of understanding the complexity of our departure and the impact which many of us anticipate will go on for at least a couple of decades.

No doubt some people will blame the EU but that is equally not the cause of this. Gove and Foster who both wanted us to leave the EU seemed to have ignored the obvious impact on Northern Ireland that sadly may lead to them leaving the UK.