There was hope that the Prime Minister would come back from Brussels with a semblance of a breakthrough so that negotiations could move to the second phase, but she failed again.
The Tories are, seen as a mockery; a former Labour leader took to Twitter to air his disgust over the Brexit negotiations. He stated that the PM and her Conservative colleagues were a bunch of jokers that could not organise a knee up in a brewery, slightly much stronger language was, used, however, the message is clear.
I doubt anyone believes that after being a member of the European Union for 44 years, the integration of EU policies that impact on the UK, that leaving was going to be anything but easy, would be kidding themselves.
However, Mrs May needs to call a halt to the Brexit negotiations; they are not doing her any favours. She is digging herself into a hole where sooner rather than later she will not emerge intact. The PM is not negotiating from a position of strength, and the EU knows that. Her weakness is, in my opinion, is her most significant stumbling block. Therefore the ball is in the European Union to drag this out as long as it suits them.