A fuzzy Brexit: like before, without a seat at the table

My father will like the title of this New York Times article: In favor of a fuzzy Brexit. I do not agree with everything it says and how it says it, but a couple of paragraphs I find very descriptive of what is to me the likely final outcome: the UK will have a similar special relationship to the one it had pre-referendum, but the UK government will not have a seat in the governing bodies. Not exactly what the British voters thought they were voting for last year in the referendum. These are the paragraphs I liked:

"A series of nudges and winks in the last few weeks from several of the senior British political players — above all, the Brexit secretary, David Davis — suggest that the election has left its mark and that British negotiators are edging away from a hard Brexit toward a “fuzzy” one, for when serious trade talks begin in October.

This means a much longer transitional period than originally envisaged by both sides, possibly staying inside the European Union’s customs union in some modified form, and a much greater readiness on Britain’s part to compromise on continuing payments into the European Union’s budget (as well as a large onetime leaving fee) and on some continuing jurisdiction by the European Court of Justice.

Voting to leave was always going to be a lot easier than actually leaving, especially when the referendum result gave politicians no indication as to what kind of Brexit people wanted."

And this will probably be without any more referendums, for which serious people are losing their appetite.