Well here we are. At very first sight the UK negotiating mandate is a solid enough effort, more so I think than many documents published since 2016. assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/upl…
I'm in meetings for a while so no long thread (though there should be an article soon) but seems the initial focus is UK threat to walk away in June. To be honest though this is a logical result of saying no extension, we'll need a final deal by September. theguardian.com/politics/2020/…
Beyond solid - there's an awkwardness of trying to balance the claim we want only a bog-standard FTA, the areas we want to go further, rejecting the accusations of cake, and supporting UK business. Those the compromises trade deals impose.
