Hi everyone and welcome to this latest episode of our Brexit and Beyond podcast.

And I'm absolutely delighted to say that our guest today is none other than our very own,

Catherine Barnard,

legal superstar, professor at the University of Cambridge. Catherine, how are you doing?

Hi there. I thought you didn't like lawyers. Well, I'll make an exception for you. Every law has

an exception, doesn't it? Now, we've got loads to go through with you. And the first thing,

I mean, first things first,

you have read the trade and cooperation agreements, haven't you, in its entirety?

Actually, I'd be lying if I said I'd read every word, but I've probably read quite a lot more than

you have. Oh, I say, nice little dig to start with. Catherine is the only person I know who,

when she talks about the treaty gives you page

numbers as if she'd sort of memorized it.

But just stepping back from the detail, if I said to you, what are the three things that

strike you as most unusual, interesting or important about that document?

What would you say?

One, it's there. It's even been agreed. I mean, that in itself was a pretty remarkable thing,

and it is actually a tribute to both sides that they did manage to get this thing agreed. And it is a

big beast. It's deeply complex. It's a field day for lawyers, but it is there and we are already trading on its terms. Yes, there's grace periods and all sorts of things. But the fact is it's already in application.

Secondly, although we've heard loads and loads of stuff about goods, services is still pretty slim and this is going to be a big

problem going forward, not least because when people start travelling again, they're going to

discover it's no longer as straightforward as it used to be. Third thing, and I think this is, again,

a credit and unexpected is the level of cooperation that has been provided for in respect of what's called

...