and the vice president went to the north, i spoke with him before he went to the north and he is very keen to get this resolved. you know, i spoke to angela merkel, one year ago who said to me, the last thing we want is an abundance of checks. we want to minimise checks. that is what is happening, though, isn't it? no, it's not. i think it is overstated to some degree. there is not an abundance of checks and it can get resolved, with goodwill on all sides. what happens if this cannot be resolved? the uk has been clear — if there is not a significant move on the eu side, the uk is absolutely explicit that it may well push the button on a legal dispute — article 16 is the technical name of the mechanism. you said it would be "reckless and unwise" for the uk to trigger article 16. why? well, my own view is that unilateralism never works and i am very encouraged by what has transpired this week and last