YOU have been taken hostage and abused for years. The authorities have come in and freed you. You have been moved to a room in an apartment complex.
You are free.
You notice a policeman standing guard outside a room, and security cameras.
You find out that the person who took you hostage has not been convicted. The authorities have placed him under monitoring conditions, and he lives in the same apartment complex as you.
You are free.
You can go shopping, and do what you want in your room.
You are free.
Just hope the policeman does not fall asleep or the cameras fail.
The person who took you hostage and abused you was meant to be locked up in maximum security for life.
You are free.
That is the Johnson Brexit deal. We have freedom in the physical sense. But in our minds, we know we are still not truly free.
Secretive joint committees.
Northern Ireland protocol.
Annual fishing negotiations with implied threats about changing the status quo, going forward in the future.
We are free!
