Are Brexit talks collapsing before they have even begun?

The atmosphere surrounding the Brexit process is already turning toxic - but a shared love of hiking might help clear the air.
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Has an avalanche warning just been issued for Brexit? Is the whole process about to collapse even before the negotiations have begun?
The European Commission's chief Brexit negotiator used his first news conference since the UK formally announced its intention to leave the European Union to warn that the path ahead will be "extraordinary", it will "take time" and it will be "hard".
Michel Barnier was forthright throughout and with a tone that very much gave the impression that he and the European Union, not the UK, will be running the show.
But he ended with a personal reflection on his first meeting, last Wednesday, with Theresa May - that now infamous dinner at Downing Street which either went swimmingly or disastrously depending on who you believe.
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He revealed that he and Mrs May share a passion: mountain hiking.
"If you like walking in the mountains, you have to learn a certain number of rules, you have to learn to put one foot in front of the other because sometimes you are on a steep and rocky path," Mr Barnier said.
"You also have to look at what accidents might befall you, falling rocks, you have to be very careful to keep your breath, you have to have stamina because it could be a lengthy path and you have to keep looking at the summit."
It's advice Mrs May needs no reminder of. She and her husband are keen walkers; it was on a ramble through Wales over Easter that she came to the conclusion that a snap general election was needed.
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Plenty emerged from Mr Barnier's news conference: on the so-called "exit bill", he wouldn't be drawn on a figure, simply, he said, because it's impossible to work it out. Every day the UK remains in the EU, its financial commitments continue to stack up.
: Hammond rejects €100bn divorce bill figure
He said the "methodology" of establishing the figure needs to be agreed upon. That sounds a bit like asking the UK to sign a blank check, I asked him.
Absolutely not, he said: we need to agree that the UK owes money because it's just settling its accounts, its bill, before it leaves.
Plenty emerged from Mr Barnier's news conference: on the so-called "exit bill", he wouldn't be drawn on a figure, simply, he said, because it's impossible to work it out. Every day the UK remains in the EU, its financial commitments continue to stack up.
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