When Brexit Secretary David Davis smiled for the camera at the latest negotiations with the European Union, he probably had no idea how intensely the resulting photographs would be analysed.
But his lack of notes or any sort of paperwork in the pictures has attracted the attention of some Twitter users, not least because the EU’s chief negotiator Michel Barnier and his colleagues had stacks of papers in front of them.
Well, the UK certainly looks prepared for the second round of Brexit talks. pic.twitter.com/wo7P7TidfG
— Ashley Cowburn (@ashcowburn) July 17, 2017
Who needs documents when you've got optimism? (pic via @DanielFerrie) pic.twitter.com/Iqzf7Y5f8s
— Pawel Swidlicki (@pswidlicki) July 17, 2017
Some thought they’d spotted a similarity with one of the UK’s favourite bosses.
You don't seem to have made any notes, David.
"It's all up here!" pic.twitter.com/C3ULsrm3fz
— Matt Zarb-Cousin (@mattzarb) July 17, 2017
Some wondered what might happen next.
"Can one of you lend me some paper? Oh, and a pen?" https://t.co/TaeNkpzvO9
— Mike Holden (@MikeHolden42) July 17, 2017
And others imagined Davis might have some notes cunningly secreted about his person.
"Of course I didn't come to the negotiations without any notes. That would be ridiculous" #Brexit pic.twitter.com/vR7P6tnOwz
— Seamus Conboy (@SeamusConboy) July 17, 2017
It should be said this is just one snapshot taken from the start of the negotiations. Paperwork for #TeamUK could be just out of view, or yet to be unpacked from briefcases.
Kicking off the second round of Brexit talks in Brussels, Davis said: “We are now getting into the substance of the matter.
“It’s four categories really. The issue of citizens’ rights, the issue of finance, the issue of separation issues and, of course, separately, Northern Ireland.
“For us it’s incredibly important we now make good progress. That we negotiate through this and identify the differences, so that we can deal with them, and identify the similarities so that we can move forward.
“And now it’s time to get down to work and make this a successful negotiation.”
Some 90 officials from the UK are in Brussels for the talks which are talking place all week.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel