So, let the endgames begin. Over dinner in Salzburg on Wednesday night Theresa May will deliver her opening pitch in the final phase of the Brexit negotiations, which have been stuck in the diplomatic mud since the summer.

She will be given 10 minutes, say EU diplomats, to make her case to the 27 other EU leaders. They will listen in silence and, as in previous encounters of this kind, not engage directly in negotiation.

This is to preserve the authority of their designated frontman, Michel Barnier.

Mrs May’s pitch will be familiar, according to Downing Street, repeating what she and her ministers have been telling EU capitals all summer: namely, that she needs flexibility if there is any hope of selling a Brexit Withdrawal Agreement back in Westminster.

She will argue that the Chequers plan really is the basis of a liveable future EU-UK relationship, with its “binding commitments” to a level playing field on state aid and commitment to maintaining current EU levels of regulation on social and environmental policies.

This, she will contend, is a “fair arrangement” that does not undermine the EU single market and keeps trade flowing, to be benefit of both sides.