Rishi Sunak’s ‘deal’ on the Northern Ireland Protocol is finally out. My first impression is that it is no ‘deal’ at all: the version of the text published by the government is a document with no legal effect that is possible to enforce. It’s a wish list of vague commitments.

The document is patronising in places: it refers to ‘saving money on a pint of beer, buying Cumberland sausages in a supermarket or visiting a garden centre for seeds and plants’.