Brexit will happen on January 31 and the Irish Sea border by early 2021

Boris Johnson’s Withdrawal Agreement was passed by the House of Commons yesterday by a comfortable margin, which means that the planned departure date of January 31 remains on course.

The result is no surprise in light of the general election result, but it nonetheless confirms a number of things.

First, that Brexit is definitely going to happen (supporters of the EU had hoped the June 2016 referendum could be reversed until the general election earlier this month).

It means that a major economic border between Northern Ireland and Great Britain will come into effect after the transition period (when the UK stays in the single market and customs union) ends in December 2020.

It means the UK will now focus on an EU trade deal.

And it means paralysis caused by the 2016 Brexit vote is set to ease (normal politics, however, is some way off).

From a unionist viewpoint, there is no point pretending that the internal UK border Boris Johnson agreed with the EU is good for the Province. It is a barrier to our biggest trade (with rest of UK) even though the prime minister pretends it isn’t. But Tory MPs show no appetite to reverse it.

If unionists had opposed Brexit, it probably would have made little difference. Even so, unionist parties will need to reflect carefully on how it was that NI ever ended up economically detached from the UK’s internal market.