'Hotel California' might apply to UK too

THE celebrated melody "Hotel California" by the Eagles - featuring the lyrics "You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave" - is a new favourite, for various wry reasons, at the German Bundesbank. Amid the furore over last week's UK High Court ruling that Parliament should decide on triggering Britain's exit from the European Union (EU), the song appears more than ever a metaphor for difficult-to-break EU ties.

In Frankfurt, the tune (they even play it on ceremonial occasions) is held to epitomise the difficulty of getting any member of the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) actually to depart. It stands, too, for the intractability of the European Central Bank's unconventional monetary policies; Bundesbank officials first spoke about "exit" six years ago.

Uncertainty about whether Britain will depart from the EU, and under what conditions, has been present since the referendum result on June 24. Many European officials don't believe the British government is serious in wishing to implement "the will of the people". Neither do upset Brexiteers who foresee betrayal by Prime Minister Theresa May. Desire to counter party mistrust explains why Mrs May intensified "hard Brexit" rhetoric at the Conservative conference in Birmingham a month ago. She implied that immigration controls had clear priority over unimpaired EU trade. However, nothing she said before or since has confirmed that she wishes to proceed in that way.