Thread by @Usherwood

So, the end of another week of Brexit.

What have we learnt?

Well, about as much as we might have expected, i.e. not much

The pre-#EUCO sense had been that there'd be no big progress, and certainly no deal, and that is seemingly where we've got to

#EUCO used neither its stick - ramping up no-deal contingency planning - nor its carrot - a Nov #EUCO - but also kept a very tight line on its rhetoric

Likewise, No.10 flew some kites - most obviously on extending transition - but didn't press hard on these. Again, May kept comments to a bare minimum

Actually, this might be the most consequential part of it all: the silence.

A lot of people are being very delicate right now. Compare with Salzburg

Salzburg was partly air-clearing and venting, partly setting up this stage of negotiations, whereas #EUCO has become much more transitional and so less determinative

The hard negotiating in the run-up to #EUCO evidently produced some more text - hence Raab's Sunday flit to BRX - but it's the politics of it all that we're waiting on

The big Q (for me at least) is whether everyone's given up on trying to do anything for Nov, leaving it all for Dec

As a reminder, Dec is the back end of most people's timelines for getting a deal through agt and ratification without having to rush the latter, ie if you're worried about the final push then you are losing a big part of the minimal fallback time you hold

That said, also clear that EU27 are tired of all the fun and games, so cutting back on the avoiding-decision options might well appeal.

If May is also wanting to play for time for domestic reasons - hello, that budget vote - then maybe we are staring at a quiet month or so

Obviously the big danger in this is that attention wanders. Ideally, the time should be used to firm up a text, on both WA and PD, so it can get launched hard in Dec, to minimise calls for revision

Experience suggests that ideals are just that, ideal, so let's see what the coming week brings

Key test will be whether either EU27 or May says something less politic in the coming week and whether CON backbench and/or DUP decide to action their grievances