Surely all Johnson was preoccupied with was creating a perception that he was the 2020s 'Up yours, Delors!' guy, regardless of any reality. Which is why they talked tough but always backed down at the very last minute and had to accept a worse deal than that which was originally on offer.

Nah. It's very telling that Cameron tried to win him over with a British Sovereignty Act and that the key thing he won from the EU was Stormont gaining the ability to exit the protocol even though its clear a majority would never go for it nor would it actually lead to any practical changes