If strict East-West checks and North-South checks are problematic, the only solution left standing is to minimise the former by rewriting the Protocol.
Grasping this nettle will involve appointing someone prepared to be considerably less popular with sections of the gallery than was their predecessor.
Remainers cannot both plead Commons supremacy over Brexit and deny it over the Withdrawal Agreement.
Also: Eleven candidates prepare to fight Newport West by-election; Trimble hints that backstop changes could be enough; and more.
We need a new strategic partnership with Ireland. At the moment, that end seems endlessly remote.
The topic is being discussed – including at Cabinet – but that in itself is not convincing evidence that such a major change is imminent.