One excellent point I heard in Brussels (from a friend of the UK) was that the future UK-EU relationship has to be seen in the context of growing concerns about US and China trade distortions - so the EU takes a tougher approach, and who's next for a trade agreement?
So when the UK government talks tough to the EU or domestically (no we don't want alignment or your rules) the EU hears the UK wanting to be a baby-US or China. And resolve to be tougher in return. Even though the UK may not mean what we say.
Meanwhile some London chatter suggests a battle between Dominic Cummings desire for revolution and a safety-first approach coming from the Chancellor and others. Which in turn plays into what UK trade policy is actually going to be.
UK trade policy will take many years to fully define, but we've given ourselves only 10 months to reach a deal with our most important trading partner. Mistakes are likely, with implications for the domestic economy, and for talks as @JohnGPeet notes
@JohnGPeet At the same time you can sense the desire of the the UK government, media and policy world to move on from international matters, even though we can't really. Leaving the ultimate Brexit destination floating, along with the future of our trade policy.
@JohnGPeet In which situation no surprise the EU will want to make the running. Because London thinks it has a very clear policy and message, but it doesn't seem clear when actually tested. Making talks just as unpredictable as ever. /end
@JohnGPeet Extra thought - is the current state of the UK government that the messaging is being controlled by the Cummings radicals, but the actual policy direction comes from a much more cautious place?
