But there was little leeway even for the EU.
The UK wanted the same deal as a non-member as it had had as a member. That’s not possible.
The EU offered different alternatives and even said that the only option for May’s red lines was no-deal.
The Brexiteers like Farage, Johnson etc. believed that they could still “win” with no clue on how to
They never needed a “deal” and wasted 2 years trying to negotiate one that was never going to work. The head “negotiator” for UK did not want to leave and the EU is playing for bigger stakes than The UK. The easier they make it for the UK to leave the more at risk that Hungary, and others will leave.
The fear mongering of a hard brexit are just that. England has existed for over a 1000 years and in the EU for less then 25 years it’s asinine to fear monger the end the world in a hard Brexit. And no one on the UK side ever prepared for that which was stupid. Prepare for the worst, hope for the best.
UK is in the WTO... it’s not as though trade will halt over them leaving. Terms will be different and the US would happily knock out a quick trade agreement with the UK as well. Yes there will be some short term pain for a hard Brexit, but had they just executed they would already have worked through most of that pain but no waisted 2 years with crap.