Why did Davies agree on the first day of negotiations to a 2 stage process?

[AtW]

Article 50 was invoked to help her win election, which she denied will be held but she clearly had it planned back in Sep 2016 when she announced timetable - May is a liar and a loser, one can't be both and retain PMship

[chopper]

Give the guy a break, or at least a red nose and squirty flower...

Then, you'll be a mile away and you'll have his shoes.

[jamesbrown]

I tend to agree with you, but I'd go further to argue that A50 was invoked too soon, and it's questionable whether that was ever going to be the best route. Dominic Cummings et al. were screaming about this right from the start

May et al. didn't really have the forecasight. It was more important for them to demonstrate to the UK electorate that some progress was being made. They made a political calculation. Whether it was the best one is difficult to know without the counterfactual, but I suspect it wasn't.

Now, obviously the EU were going to maintain the mantra of no negotiation before invocation (of A50) for a while, but the UK could've seriously tested that resolve by using their veto judiciously. Unanimity applies to a relatively small fraction of total legislation now, but they could've properly messed with our EU "friends and partners" in several areas were they unwilling to discuss things prior to A50

[stek]

Give the guy a break, or at least a red nose and squirty flower...

[sasguru]

Great post again celebrating our Brexit negotiators.

We're all behind them, doing a great job.

Quite. I, for one, cannot wait for the glorious sun-drenched Brexit future with unicorns gambolling blithely in the green meadows.

[northernladyuk]

In case you lot had forgotten it was David Davies who agreed to a 2 stage process i.e. (1) settling the UK bill followed by (2) talks on the future relationship.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics...-politics-live

Now the question Brexiters sgould ask themselves is why did he do this? Seems terribly incompetent.
Not much of a negotiator is he?

No, no, no. You've got it all wrong.
http://www.ft.com/content/01396086-3...a-6027b8a20f23

David Davis warns Brexit timetable will be ‘row of the summer’

Minister says early deals on exit bill and Northern Ireland would be ‘illogical’

MAY 14, 2017 by Henry Mance Political Correspondent
David Davis has rejected the EU’s timetable for Brexit talks, saying that the UK would be disadvantaged by an early agreement regarding its financial obligations and the future status of the Northern Irish border.

“That’ll be the row of the summer,” the Brexit secretary said on Sunday.

The EU has earmarked three issues that it says will require an early agreement in the Brexit negotiations: the rights of EU nationals living in the UK; the UK’s “exit” payment to the EU; and the Northern Irish border. Mr Davis said the EU’s proposed timetable would back Britain into a corner on the two latter issues, which he called “the most difficult bit” of negotiations.

“How on earth do you resolve the issue of the border with Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland unless you know what our general borders policy is, what the customs agreement is, what our trade agreement is?” he told ITV’s Robert Peston. “It’s wholly illogical.”

The UK would only look for an early agreement on migrants’ rights by “early autumn”, but would otherwise argue that nothing was agreed until everything was agreed, he said.

How on earth do you resolve the issue of the border with Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland unless you know what our general borders policy is, what the customs agreement is, what our trade agreement is?

The build-up to formal Brexit talks has been disrupted by the UK general election campaign and by controversy surrounding the leaked details of a dinner attended by Theresa May and Jean-Claude Juncker last month.

Nevertheless on Sunday Mr Davis gave some detail on how EU nationals living in the UK might be treated after Brexit, saying that the government wanted an agreement that “effectively freezes” their rights.

“They’ll have the right to welfare, the right to healthcare, the right to pensions, as they would if they were permanent residents,” he said. “The only rights they wouldn’t have are those citizenship rights — the right to vote in a general election.”

EU citizens in the UK currently enjoy a wider range of rights than non-EU permanent residents, including those relating to recognition of their qualifications and receiving welfare payments from abroad. It is unclear from Mr Davis’s formulation whether the government will look to maintain such relative advantages for EU nationals.

The Brexit secretary added: “There will be an argument over the final detail … such as whether the European Court of Justice oversees their rights after we’ve left … We’ll have an argument about that.”

Mr Davis suggested there would be little progress in Brexit negotiations during the summer months, saying it was the “least useful time in dealing with Brussels”.

Mrs May has argued that winning a large Conservative majority in June’s election will strengthen her negotiating position with Brussels.

[BlasterBates]

Great post again celebrating our Brexit negotiators.

We're all behind them, doing a great job.

[sasguru]

In case you lot had forgotten it was David Davies who agreed to a 2 stage process i.e. (1) settling the UK bill followed by (2) talks on the future relationship.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics...-politics-live

Now the question Brexiters should ask themselves is why did he do this? Seems terribly incompetent.
Not much of a negotiator is he? Should be sacked for gross incompetence?

The EU are only following what was agreed on by his concessions on the first day.