A fish called Brexit

As Britain blunders, 'Dutch' herring will stay in Scotland.

Ursula von der Leyen and Boris Johnson at Downing Street in January 2020

The sands of time are running….and so on. Four-and-a-half years after the Brexit referendum, the deadline is upon us. The Brexit knot - Brexitknoop - must be tied or untied by Sunday, reported Financieele Dagblad.

Previous deadlines were more elastic. Ultimatums stretched and hard barriers turned soft. Now, time really is running out - nu raakt de tijd echt op, wrote Niek van der Molen in Frieschdagblad. Without a deal, so-called “hard Brexit” will take effect from January 1st. 

Tension is ratcheting up - de spanning tussen de Europese Unie en het Verenigd Koninkrijk over de brexit loopt verder op, reported Dutch national broadcaster NOS. As negotiators for both sides played their last cards, the political heads stepped into the ring: this is the all-or-nothing phase - de alles-of-niets-fase beland.

After lengthy telephone calls, British prime minister Boris Johnson flew to Brussels for dinner with European Commis…