Whether or not Big Ben actually bongs at 11pm tonight, the fact remains that – after three-and-a-half years – the UK is set to officially leave the EU.

However, despite assertions from Boris Johnson’s majority government that it has succeeded in its election pledge to “get Brexit done”, nothing material will change in the UK’s relationship with its nearest trading block on February 1.

The withdrawal agreement only covers the act of the UK leaving. What the UK-EU relationship will look like after December 2020 is the thing that now needs to be worked out.