The overall impression in other European capitals is that the British want to have their cake and eat it, by leaving the EU and yet retaining all its advantages, a demand which no EU government is prepared to concede. Squabbles inside Mrs May's ruling Conservative Party add to the confusion. A group of ardent anti-European former senior Cabinet ministers has published an open letter to the Prime Minister, urging her to simply crash out of the EU with no deal; Britons should "concentrate our resources on resolving administrative issues" rather than trade negotiations, they say. But recent analysis compiled by the Centre for Economic Performance at the London School of Economics indicates that the option of leaving the EU without a negotiated trade deal could cost the British economy £430 billion (S$773 billion) over the first five years, or around 5 per cent of the country's total output.

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