The announcement by Theresa May that she will quit as British Prime Minister on 7 June has been expected for so long that when it came, it was something of an anti-climax.

Her Conservative Party has been in meltdown in recent months, culminating in what are expected to be disastrous results from the European Parliament elections held in Britain and Northern Ireland on Thursday.

The problem for Irish farmers fearing the consequences of a no-deal Brexit is that this changes nothing. The UK departure from the EU is bad news for Irish farmers across all sectors and the withdrawal agreement rejected by parliament was the least bad option.

Single market

A new prime minister will be elected and have further meetings with Brussels in the coming months. However, the basic issue remains, namely that the EU will not allow the UK cherry-pick the parts of EU membership, particularly access to the single market, without having the same rules as every other member.

A new prime minister will face the same problems Theresa May. The hope will be that her successor can make a better job of selling the withdrawal agreement to a seriously fractured parliament than she did.