rapprochement—will take many years. Paul McGrade The post-Brexit relationship between the United Kingdom and the European Union has been characterised by sour, suspicious competition. But can the UK maintain its resistance to full implementation of the Protocol on Ireland and Northern Ireland, concluded as part of its Withdrawal Agreement—and, longer-term, its refusal to be a ‘rule-taker’ from Brussels? We have, after all, heard many UK threats to walk away from any agreement with the EU, only to find that decision-makers in London seemed very much to want deals. So can we take at face value warnings of unilateral decisions on the protocol, defying Brussels and indeed Washington? The comforting consensus is that the UK government may talk tough but will ultimately accept arrangements within the EU’s political comfort zone.