To be fair, Jim, the British do not speak with one voice. Daily Mail readers, apparently, want Rees Moog as the next Prime Minister.

The backstop issue is the one Theresa May is focussed on, presumably because she needs the Northern Ireland DUP's support and they won't support a solution that leaves them treated differently from the rest of the UK in terms of customs arrangements with the UK.

While we are still in the EU the border on the island of Ireland has no customs importance; there is free movement of goods and services. When we are not in the EU, the border will be a border between the EU and the UK.

In theory this means there should be border checks on goods crossing the border, but imposing such checks would be in breach of an agreement between the UK and the Irish Republic, and is seen as likely to bring about a return to higher levels of sectarian violence.

So the aims in terms of that are to agree a trade deal with the EU that keeps the border as open as it is now, which seems to mean pretty much a 'free trade' agreement, which seems to mean that goods we send across that border must reach EU standards, which is what Rees Moog and co want to be free from (especially in respect of finance and chemicals).

In the event that a deal isn't reached by a certain date, the backstop kicks in and specifies that there must be no 'hard border' across the island of Ireland.

I'm thinking that both the Republic and the UK must have within their 'no deal' planning, thoughts about how to address the political violence with which we may be faced if we crash out with no agreement that supports a no hard border option.   The Republic is recruiting potential customs officers already, though as it is sometimes said that border posts may be a target it seems a job for the brave!

The DUP are concerned that solutions to the no hard border problem will result in a customs border between the island of Ireland and GB, which they do not want as they see it as weakening the union.

This seems to me to be an intractible problem, and I don't know what Johnson or Rees Moog would do about it, and my guess is that they won't get rid of May before Brexit because nobody else knows what they would do about it, simply because it is intractible, so they are happy to let May continue until we crash out, which is what some of them want. Then she can get the blame.

Rees Moog seems to be against any form of backstop as he says the whole thing is the fault of the EU, not of Brexiteers, which seems to mean he doesn't mind a hard border down the middle of Ireland.