Finally, the moment of truth has arrived. There has always been one point of conflict and one alone. The transfer of sovereignty.

Repeating that they do not want to abide by the same rules of the single market and not accepting the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice whenever there would be deviation by the UK to the changing rules of the EU in the future, the British negotiators seem to not understand that if you just keep repeating the same statement over and over again you keep getting the same answer. No acceptance of a superior jurisdiction in matters of EU law and regulation will mean: no access to the single market.

As Einstein once said “Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results”.

This is what the UK seems to have been doing in its so-called negotiations with the EU. They know that the only issue has been from the very beginning ‒ it was probably even the cause that sparked the anti-EU sentiments of the insane Brexiteers in the first place ‒ their absolute abhorrence of transferring sovereignty.

The EU and its single market is basically an exercise in the sharing of sovereignty and the binding together of competing states into an amalgam of shared purpose. This demands a certain amount of loss of independence.

Poland and Hungary have suffered the same pains last month when they tried to stop the common purpose agreed to by a majority of the partners in the EU from coming into force in the area of tying financial disbursements to the application of the rule of law, only to realise that they could not stop the train and, in a show of pretence that they have won something, they had to sign up to this, as long as the court in Luxembourg endorses the new system.

The Anglo-Welsh will suffer economic decline and, finally, they will one day once more seek to join the European Union- John Vassallo

Alas, the English and Welsh Brexiteers (because the Scots and Irish voted against) knew from the very beginning that they wanted to leave because they did not accept laws voted by them together with all the others; laws that demanded compromises which, for petty islanders, felt like unacceptable impositions. So they now are trying to get all the benefits of the EU without paying for it and without following the common rules and subjecting themselves, like all of us, to the jurisdiction of the European Court. Any law student will tell you that EU law supersedes national law and we are all subject to these laws as long as we remain EU members.

But they do not want to remain members.

Yet, by insisting that they want a trade deal without compromises having to be made on both sides, the English negotiators are just banging their heads against a brick wall. They repeat the same mantra, hoping each time to obtain a different outcome. Einstein called that behaviour insanity and he was right. All that is needed for a deal to be struck is for the Brits to accept the superiority of EU law. No compromise from the side of the EU is necessary or possible.

So goodbye empire over which the sun never sets and hello ‘third country’.

First, the UK will fall apart as the Scots seek independence and the Northern Irish link up with their southern neighbour in their natural and historic home in a united island and these will join the EU and abide by the common rules with all the benefits this brings.

Secondly, the Anglo-Welsh will suffer economic decline and, finally, they will one day once more seek to join the European Union, that family of friends and neighbours which never really wanted them to leave but could not accept to have their values and principles put in jeopardy.

The EU is there to retain peace in Europe, to allow all our economies to grow, to introduce common rules on environment, social and employment matters, to enforce the rule of law and to influence the rest of the world on social, environmental and democratic affairs.

Hopefully, with Donald Trump out of the White House for good, the US, which before and after the Trump catastrophic interlude shares the same values as Europe, under Joe Biden will approach the EU and NATO to tear down the fences that have been set up by Trump and, hopefully, move towards that elusive dream, the transatlantic market place, the largest economic union in the world.

John Vassallo is a former ambassador to the EU.