Crucial talks between Britain and the European Union have hit the bumps at the threshold with post-Brexit Britain threatening to walk away from the negotiating table if there is no progress within four months. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has less than a year to forge a new relationship ~ encompassing security, defence and economic ties ~ with the bloc. He has secured an exit that rested upon two deals.

One was a withdrawal agreement that linked Northern Ireland to the EU. The other was a political declaration with guarantees for a level playing field on environmental and labour standards as well as state aid policies to avoid UK firms gaining unfair competitive advantage in EU markets. For any divergence in perceptions, there is bound to be a consequential loss of access to EU markets.

To make up for this loss of trade, David Frost, the UK’s chief Brexit negotiator, has let it be kinown that Britain has its eyes on the horizon of an economy where it will be able to set rules for new sectors quicker than an EU hidebound by a “fear of the future”. On Thursday, he did make a concession to reality by admitting that there may be a “short-run cost” from being shut out of the EU, but reverted to theoretical Brexitism by claiming this “will be overwhelmed rapidly by the huge gains of having your own policy regimes in certain areas”.

Intrinsically, therefore, it is a struggle for the mastery of the British and European economy. Rather than engaging with the contents and pace of the talks, it appears the Prime Minister merely plays to the gallery when he threatens to walk away from the negotiations or pledges to never surrender fishing waters, a critical facet of the economy. This December, he is likely to face a choice between a narrow deal, opting for an economically damaging “no deal”, or extending the timeframe for talks.

The question that is uppermost in Britain today is whether he will yield in the endgame to the EU. Reality ought to have a larger impact than Mr Johnson’s bluster, exemplified by the threat to walk away. From Britain to Brussels, the two sides appear headed for a rocky first round of negotiations as they try to forge a new relationship following the UK’s departure from the 27- nation bloc.

Both Britain and the EU claim that they want to conclude a free trade agreement, but have starkly different views on what constitutes fair competition between their two economies. The differences are fundamental; Britain is demanding the right to diverge from the bloc’s rules in order to forge new trade agreements. The statement by Michael Gove, the minister for Brexit preparations, cannot readily inspire optimism ~ “In pursuit of a deal, we will not trade away our sovereignty.” Across the Channel, the equation between Britain and EU is frosty at the moment.