Leader comment: Theresa May's Brexit fudge turns sour

No doubt Theresa May and her fellow chefs de confiserie had lovingly prepared their own-brand Irish Border Badlands Fudge in the Whitehall kitchens, pouring all their knowledge and expertise into its preparation and then serving it up to our neighbours in Europe in anticipation of a rapturous reception.

Brussels doesn't seem to like British fudge (Picture: AFP/Getty)

However, it appears the European Union’s chefs took one bite and promptly spat it out.

Britain’s attempt to square the circle of how the UK could leave the EU’s single market and customs union without creating a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic or between the North and the British mainland was always going to be a fudge of some kind.

A report that the UK Government’s plan was subjected to a “detailed and forensic rebuttal” by Brussels officials suggests the EU will not be swallowing that sort of thing, which is ominous for the Prime Minister.

For, propped up by hard-line Brexiteers and the DUP, May could probably have used a little leeway or room for interpretation in whatever agreement is reached.