The most basic mistake of the UK gov't in these negotiations has been a total failure to take the lead in any draft proposals. Look at No Deal contingency arrangements. EU published theirs six days ago. The UK clutched its pearls and claimed unfairness. WHERE IS OUR PROPOSAL? 1/4

Been like this since Day 1, when Davis turned up without so much as notes scribbled on a beer mat, beat his chest that the UK would never accept EU timetable, then signed up to it the next morning, for lack of any alternative proposal. A behaviour replicated at every stage. 2/4

This, of course, is not a coincidence. If the gov't put pen to paper with concrete proposals, it would outline its own vision, opening itself to criticism from all factions of this cobbled Brexit alliance. Much easier to let the EU do the heavy lifting, then bitch about it. 3/4

If you can't define a thing, all you can do is let others guess and keep responding "no, it's definitely not that".

This is why the EU talk of "a very narrow path to a deal". They've had to carve it by elimination of what the UK won't accept, rather than what it wants. 4/4