Both sides want to stick to their principles. But that determination right now has set them on the path to the practical outcome they both wanted to avoid – and, if nothing changes, the chance of significant disruption at least in the short term for the country in many different ways.
And for both sides, failing to agree would be a real political accident – something they don’t want, and that didn’t have to happen.
But unless one side, or more likely both, are willing to give up some of their principles very fast, or the negotiators come up with a sudden miracle, then for all his optimism, Boris Johnson may fail to achieve the trade deal that Brexiteers boasted would be easy.
A result that he always said he would be ready for, but no doubt what he wanted to avert.