Theresa at the European Council

From The Guardian (here):

The time passed slowly. Ten o’clock came and went. Eleven o’clock came and went. Midnight came and went. Just after 1am, a steward tapped her on the shoulder to let her know there was a spare five minutes if she had anything she wanted to get off her chest while the few remaining people still awake finished their coffee.

“I’d like to talk to you all about Brexit,” Theresa had begun.

“Parlez à la main,” shouted a lone Belgian, before falling off his chair.

Theresa continued, determined not to be distracted. “I’m here to tell you that Brexit means Brexit and that the UK remains committed to getting whatever deal with the EU we can manage to negotiate once we’ve got some sort of a clue what it is we really want. Merci, danke.”

Silence. Two people staggered off to bed without saying a word; the rest remained asleep in their chairs. The épaule had never seemed so froide.

“I think that went quite well on the whole,” Theresa said later to one of her advisers.

Plus ça change ...