Jokes aside, if you talk to him (David Davis) or his team they say they are making good progress, that the negotiations are now properly under way, he is totally on top of his brief - move on, nothing to see here.
But talking to several different sources this week, who have been close to the talks, none of whom want to see them fail, some distinctly less optimistic signals have emerged. There is a long list of agenda items, inevitably, and it's complicated, ....
There is frustration that ministers are still relying on tropes like "frictionless border", or "the days of paying vast sums are over", rather than pushing on with the details....
This lack of pace therefore makes, it's feared, the possibility of crashing out, or the talks breaking down in the autumn more likely. ....