Am I correct in concluding that your essential thesis is that EU and UK negotiators are essentially talking past each other with the UK side seeking to engage in all sorts of issues not included in the agreed timetable for discussion at this stage in the process?  In other words the UK is trying to win a PR battle to steam roll the EU into engaging in all sorts of issues without regard to the process both sides agreed should form the basis for the negotiations?

My own sense has been that the UK is not so much trying to secure a good "red, white and blue" Brexit deal, as trying to ensure the EU side is blamed for a failure of those negotiations to produce any sort of substantial Brexit deal.  Theresa May's "No deal is better than a bad deal" is becoming not only a self-fulfilling prophecy, but actual UK policy.  It is like a naughty child trying to blame their parents for all matter of wrongs to justify their running away rather than trying to  sort out the issues in dispute.

Index of Frank's Diaries