Brexit: Can 'bad cop' David Davis reboot talks?

Video caption, In full: My interview with David Davis
  • Author, Laura Kuenssberg
  • Role, Political editor

Negotiations, compromise, give and take, mutual understanding and cooperation.

Not today.

The Brexit secretary this morning seemed not to be up for much of that.

Speaking to us in Berlin, where much of the future of the talks between the whole EU and UK will be decided, David Davis warned the other side they will get "nothing for nothing", and said that the UK had already done much of "the running".

And, for good measure, he hit out at Germany and France, the "powerful players", who have been taking a hardline approach, in contrast to countries like Denmark, and Holland who want to move the talks on to the next phase.

Davis's message: It's not me that needs to compromise, it's you, now get on with it.

It is not without risk that to try to single out different countries in this way when the EU 27 have been extremely effective so far in maintaining public unity, and are absolutely determined to keep doing so.

At the same time Davis was speaking to us in Germany, other EU leaders were telling Theresa May the exact opposite, repeating what has been the solid consensus across the continent that unless the UK gives a firmer and more explicit commitment to put more cash on the table the prospects for the talks are grim.

The Irish PM even went as far as claiming of Brexiteers in Britain "it's 18 months since the referendum, it's 10 years since people have wanted a referendum started agitating for one. Sometime it doesn't seem like they've thought all of this through".

While it might feel like the two sides are in completely parallel universes, as we discussed yesterday, there is an awareness in the UK that there are going to have to be further moves on the EU (Withdrawal) bill, whatever Boris Johnson may say.

But alongside that, at some point, particularly Germany, along with France, will have to take a political decision as to whether the UK appears sufficiently willing.

What's less clear is whether David Davis playing the bad cop today will really help broker this stage of the talks.

For his critics it seems just that he is pointlessly digging in, refusing to listen to the every growing line-up of EU leaders who say it's Britain that has to budge.