Come back Barnier, all is forgiven?

An interesting new tone seems to have entered the Graun's Brexit coverage:

Brexit: UK fears EU chief negotiator has lost grip on fishing talks

There is, however,  a threat implied in that nice compromiser Barnier losing his grip:

Barnier said “the EU wants the status quo, the UK wants to change everything”, but called for discussions “somewhere between”....The bloc’s chief negotiator had been expected to present a compromise proposal on access to British waters during the talks last week but was blocked at the last minute by member states with large fishing communities....British sources said an unexpected decision by fisheries ministers at a meeting with Barnier to reject a move away from their hardline position had “skewed things late in the process”, preventing a middle ground being found.

And it is the reverse of the usual suspicions about UK policy of dividing and ruling, or maybe confirmation of its failure:

Downing Street wants to swiftly enter a “tunnel phase” over the summer during which member states would entrust Barnier to thrash out a trade and security deal without constant intervention by the EU capitals....Downing Street hopes Barnier will try again to move the EU capitals towards compromise. 

And a bit of gripping detail:

Under the CFP [Common Fisheries Policy] the total allowable catch figures for different species of fish are negotiated annually by fisheries ministers. The respective share that each member state’s fleet then takes is based on catches recorded in the 1970s [why so long ago?] ....British fishing communities have long claimed that the policy has left them with far too few fish to catch with notable inequities including that French fishermen have 84% of the cod quota in the English Channel...The UK is insisting it will be an independent coastal state from the end of 2020 and that there needs to be a new relationship with the EU in this area, similar to that enjoyed by Norway....The British negotiating side wants fishing rights to depend on where the fish live – a model known as zonal attachment.

No comment from el GHarun on the ecological implications here, which might just favour the British proposals? .

And an inversion of the usual EC charge against British slowness and lack of detail:

Barnier had been expected to provide some data on how such external factors would affect the rights to catches but sources said that failed to materialise in the last week.

My suspicious mind suggests that the whole thing is a stunt to prop up Barnier and get us to accept him, for fear of something worse . At the moment he does come over as a trickster and bore, a stubborn pedant, even in teh Graun ( where his video must have done him no favours). Either that or the Graunid really is tiring of the delays and now accepts we are leaving?  

I think we need to know from skilled journalists what all this means, not literally but 'in effect'.