What a time to talk Brexit

THE last few weeks have been torrid for the UK. Three terror attacks, involving extremists from both "Christian" and "Muslim" backgrounds, homegrown and imported; a devastating tower block inferno pointing up class divides and the decline of proper building regulation; and an election whose result has frozen proper government for the foreseeable future.

The population is nervous and suspicious of each other, just as a major heatwave takes effect. The prospect of civil disturbance has been raised, with the focus on "haves" and "have nots" as well as religious and racial divides.

And now, "Brexit" talks have started in earnest. It is exactly a year since the UK population voted to leave the EU, and most people have not got a clue what that really means. Politicians and the media talk about "hard" Brexit and "soft" Brexit, "deal or no deal", free trade with the EU or isolation, and the need to work out deals with the world in general.