The current BREXIT negotiations are an irresoluble mess. The immediate costs of withdrawal will be enormous, and the long-term debilitation of the UK economy even more serious. Sterling will continue to fall in value, because of all the commercial uncertainty. The negotiations, instead of constituting a single bargaining process, have been converted, by ill-advised agreement, into a two-stage process, in which the EU has sole control of future progress. We should seek another way ahead.