In for the long haul

A month ago Boris Johnson set a deadline of 15 October for a trade deal with the EU to be done. That date has passed, no deal has as yet been done, but Johnson has not walked away from the negotiations. Perhaps he never intended to and it was just more empty bluster, as in July and September. Perhaps, as some pundits have been reporting, he will do so today when he is due to respond to the European Council meeting. Or perhaps he would like to, but is constrained by the resurgent Covid-19 crisis.