Safe pair of hands for Brexit ??? ....
Behind Sunday Times Paywall - Political Editor:
May is living in another galaxy, says Brussels
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/may-is-living-in-another-galaxy-says-brussels-mlfrk928c
"Brexit negotiations began with a blazing row yesterday as Brussels flatly rejected Theresa May’s negotiating position"
and accused the prime minister of living in a “parallel reality”.
"The other 27 EU member states took just four minutes to agree a hardline stance on Brexit at a summit meeting in Brussels
before Jean-Claude Juncker, the head of the European Commission, and Michel Barnier, the chief European Union Brexit negotiator, rounded on the prime minister.
They told EU leaders that May had used a meeting with them on Wednesday night to demand that a “detailed outline” of a future free trade deal be in place before the UK agrees to pay any money to Brussels as part of the Brexit divorce deal."
An EU diplomat said:
“This was a rather incredible demand. It seemed as if it came from a parallel reality.”
"Juncker warned yesterday that that approach would lead to an “early crash”, with Britain leaving the EU without a deal.
In an eight-page document outlining their position, the other 27 countries said the EU would “prepare itself to be able to handle the situation if the negotiations were to fail”.
"Juncker and Barnier told leaders that the Wednesday dinner at 10 Downing Street had also
revealed huge differences over plans to recognise the rights of British citizens and EU nationals in each other’s countries.
Donald Tusk, president of the European Council, said a “serious offer” was needed on migrant rights from the UK before trade talks could begin."
An EU diplomat told The Sunday Times:
“The UK’s position is miles apart, both on their financial obligations and on the EU citizens’ rights.
The UK government simply wants to create a new category of ‘former EU citizens’ in their migration law,
but our position is that we must go much further than that.”
"The prime minister’s stance that trade must come first was met with incredulity by EU officials, who said her chief EU sherpa 
, Oliver Robbins,
had already agreed that the methodology for agreeing the Brexit bill would be ironed out first
— along with the rights of EU citizens in Britain and the issue of the Irish border.
“She took a firm position against something we thought we had agreed,”
a diplomatic source said.
“It was completely unreal.”
The source said the prime minister’s views on the financial settlement “border on the delusional”.
Over dinner, Juncker slapped down May by pulling out a copy of
the EU-Canada trade deal, a 2,000-page document that took nearly a decade to negotiate,
and recommended that the prime minister study its complexity.
Juncker’s aides said he then called Angela Merkel, Germany’s chancellor
and complained that
May appeared unaware of issues communicated to her staff.
According to one of Juncker’s aides, he told Merkel:
“It went very badly. 
She is in a different galaxy.
Based on the meeting,
no deal is much more likely than finding agreement.”
That prompted Merkel to lambast British “illusions” about Brexit in a speech to her parliament on Thursday.
May responded that EU countries were “ganging up” on Britain
[blithering idiot emoticon]
"But strains are already clear between the two sides."
**
"Brussels officials expressed incredulity that Nick Timothy, May’s chief of staff, had declined to join the dinner on Wednesday.
A European ambassador who has been briefed on the meeting said:
“We don’t know whom to ring.
We thought it was Robbins, but it is clear he has been cut out.
We have no one to call.”
Tory sources said Timothy and his colleague Fiona Hill had been banned from the dinner by the civil service
because they had had to resign their posts to_ run the general election campaign._
Juncker was scathing. He said:
“I have the impression sometimes that our British friends do underestimate the technical difficulties we have to face.
The British want to leave the European Union and it’s not feasible for this to be done quickly.
But the dinner was excellent.”
He then took a swipe at the Downing Street chefs: “I’m not talking about the food.”
< 
crikey, what British delicacies did they serve 
>
"Dominic Raab, a former Tory minister who backed Brexit, said the fierce reaction from Brussels was proof that the EU was on the back foot....
It is invariably a sign of insecurity, not strength."
< whatcha smokin' Dominic ?! >