Diving into the news

[Suff]

To retrieve a nugget of truth.

The press leads with multiple stories about Davis leaving the negotiations after only one hour and that he had no papers on the desk in front of him in the photograph.

Most of the papers talk about the fact that the 98 UK negotiators were left to do their job, something Davis does not need to do.

All good so far.

Unless you read enough articles in enough detail. Where, 2/3 of the page down the Guardian report, you find...

Barnier, whose negotiating team is half the size of the UK’s, said he would be in contact with Davis throughout the week and the two would have “a rendezvous” on Thursday to take stock.

The press could easily have led with:

The UK team is twice the size of the EU team and Davis leaves them to get on with it.

Instead they lead with Davis, somehow, being incompetent.

Wasn't it the contention of the Remain campaign that the UK had no negotiators for anything and the EU did it all???

[Workingman]

It was a slow news day yesterday and it was a bit of a PR disaster for Davis to have no wad of papers on the desk, but for the media to then focus on that and build *news* stories around it is farcical.

Anyone who thinks that it is only Barnier and Davis doing the talking is living in cloud cuckoo land.

Wasn't it the contention of the Remain campaign that the UK had no negotiators for anything and the EU did it all???

Nope. Don't remember that. There must be links, plenty of them, just one will do. Thanks.

[Suff]

Wasn't it the contention of the Remain campaign that the UK had no negotiators for anything and the EU did it all???

Nope. Don't remember that. There must be links, plenty of them, just one will do. Thanks.

The British civil service has no trade negotiators, the former head of the government’s EU unit has confirmed.

The UK could call on just 25 people to negotiate a ‘Brexit’ deal when hundreds of specialists are needed, a leading international trade lawyer has warned.

Miriam González Durántez, a partner of the Dechert law firm, says the UK would need “at least” 500 negotiators working for many years to re-cast the country’s relationship with EU member states and countries the bloc has existing deals with.

400 to go then.. But, really, what would that 500 have to do? Outnumbering their EU counterparts 10:1. We have been led to believe that the EU is this big monster that needs huge numbers of people to create a deal. Yet the UK already has twice the number of negotiators for Brexit.

Perhaps we could do a very EU thing and just bury them in paper until they don't have enough time to read it all....

The Government may have to look far and wide to find the legions of staff it needs for post-Brexit trade talks, as the civil service faces its greatest manpower crisis since the Second World War, experts have warned.

'spurts again..

Need I say more?

It was blared, trumpeted, part of project fear. I said, at the time, that of the 200 trade negotiators the EU had, 130 of them were British. Leaving the EU with a rather lamentable lack of negotiators once the UK has left the EU...

[Suff]

It was a slow news day yesterday and it was a bit of a PR disaster for Davis to have no wad of papers on the desk, but for the media to then focus on that and build *news* stories around it is farcical.

No, not farcical. Just another sad day in Brexitland. Were I Davis with a "Meet and Greet" planned and only two hours committed, I wouldn't have any paper with me either. It's a negotiating tactic. "We are here to listen but we're not buying anything today and we're not letting you look at our hand".

The biggest risk to a clean Brexit that works for the UK? The press Remoaners.

[Workingman]

Need I say more?

Please no, I beg: NO MORE!

You said "Wasn't it the contention of the Remain campaign..."

No it wasn't. Give me links to remain literature, speeches by delegates, handouts...

Your links lead (three times) to the same opinions by Clegg's wife days after the referendum result. Note: It was over by then. Her opinion is not based on fact or real numbers. It is an *out there* guesstimate of what *might* be and it was not part of campaign rhetoric.

I could if I wanted to, but can't be arsed, do the same thing with the mumblings of Leave supporters, but to what point?

Today is 18th July 2017. That's 320 days since we voted for Brexit and 80 days since we enacted A50.

Are any of you readers clearer now about Brexit than you were on June 23 2016.

Don't be afraid to say 'No' now, you are not alone.

[TheOstrich]

No argument from me; I'm no clearer what the outcome is going to be, the final settlement, simply because the EU are in the driving seat and the UK will ultimately agree to whatever terms they put forward. That's the reality of it.

The important thing to me is we achieve Brexit. I don't really give two hoots about the terms. We're resilient, we'll survive.

We'll have to ......

[Suff]

Let me say, simply, that once the UK has left the EU, t he UK is in the driving seat as to whether the UK will trade with a country or not.

Once the shenanigans of the exit process is over, the UK will be able to decide, unilaterally, whether the UK wants to accept imports from, people from, or export goods or people to; one or more countries.

The rest is a sideshow and the empty table in front of Davis enunciates that for me. It says "you may be in the driving seat today and you may decide what is going to happen next. Enjoy the journey because it will be the LAST time".

[medsec222]

Basically I think this is what the majority of leavers voted for - for the UK to be in the driving seat. If there is a price to be paid for this it will be worth it, so let's pay it and move on.

[Kaz]

No clearer here Frank, it is a complete dogs breakfast.

[Suff]

And the responsibility for that lies with??

According to a senior German MEP.