I think this rather gets it bang on. From the "Briefings For Britain" newsletter. (a link is available if the request is "genuine")
""This week everyone continues to gear up for a final negotiating push. All eyes are focussed on the big three issues – fish, state aid and the EU’s demand for a so-called level playing field.
It is no surprise to find that Michel Barnier’s claims about fishing rights growing fishier than ever. It was widely reported this week that the UK wants to double its fish quota. Barnier has claimed that the UK demands are completely unreasonable. But this only replicates the EU’s arrangements with Norway and would still be a voluntary limitation of the UK’s right to full sovereignty over its waters.
On state aid and the level playing field, Barnier continues to pile the pressure on the British negotiators to make clear how they would plan to use these freedoms in future. Chief negotiator Sir David Frost has hit back, criticising the EU’s efforts to assert continued control over UK politics. In a memorable phrase, he accused the EU this week of treating the UK like ‘a client state’.
Meanwhile, the Guido Fawkes website has seen the confidential Cabinet Office Briefing on the Brexit talks. HMG's intentions could not be clearer. "The Government is committed to ending any role (other than set out in the WA) for the CJEU, or the direct application of EU law in the UK. There will also be no further dynamic alignment or non-regression commitments based on alignment to EU laws and standards between the EU and UK laws in any areas, even in a UK:EU FTA".
It looks, therefore, like the Government plans to hold firm, proving to the EU that (unlike the bad old days of the May administration) there is no bluff to be called. We will not be signing up to anything that resembles continued political alignment.
But the EU will not be keen to take no for an answer. Both sides are going to hold firm until the very last minute, pushing negotiations to the brink. Will they leave it too late for a deal? It still seems most likely that a deal will still eventually be pulled out of the bag. The UK has made clear that it demands political independence. Ultimately, despite its dogmatic commitment to ever-closer union, the EU has little to gain from denying us this. Reports that Barnier may soon be side-lined by national leaders, in order to make progress, suggest that the EU knows this.""