If only people were nice to each other...

According to the Gurb, willies are not only being waved, they are being slapped on the table:

Brexit: Boris Johnson to override EU withdrawal agreement

Move threatens to collapse talks that PM has said must be completed within weeks

Boris Johnson is drawing up legislation that will override the Brexit withdrawal agreement on Northern Ireland...A UK government source told the Guardian the plan was part of the preparation for a no-deal exit that would present a number of new barriers to trade from Northern Ireland....The move, first reported by the Financial Times, would row back parts of the UK’s agreement with the EU on state aid and customs arrangements for Northern Ireland. It is understood that the UK government believes the original protocol is drafted ambiguously enough to allow for a change of interpretation – a view likely to be fiercely contested by Brussels.

Our weasels are every bit as good as their weasels

Johnson will put an ultimatum to negotiators this week, saying the UK and Europe must agree a post-Brexit trade deal by 15 October or Britain will walk away for good...The prime minister will strike a belligerent tone, suggesting there will be no movement from the deadline and claiming the UK is ready to trade on World Trade Organization terms from January...three stumbling blocks[ er...remain] : state aid, fisheries and governance. 

New phraseology here. The last one of what is now three blocks looks especially interesting

Johnson will characterise the result of no deal as a “a trading arrangement with the EU like Australia’s”, saying the UK would have full control of its laws and fishing waters and would “prosper mightily as a result”....One UK government source said member state engagement had been minimal, but more direct approaches with EU leaders could be imminent.

He will say the UK would find “sensible accommodations on practical issues such as flights, lorry transport, or scientific cooperation, if the EU wants to do that.” [However, Project Fear MkXXXVII launches]...Industry leaders have previously said no deal would spell disaster for the country, with tariffs imposed on goods sending costs for industry and consumers soaring...Last week an LSE economics professor, Thomas Sampson, said no deal could cost more than the economic shock of Covid, causing a £3.3tn decline in the value of the UK’s output.

Johnson and his allies have repeatedly said they did not believe earlier negotiations made the threat of no deal tangible enough.

The article ends with a reference to a sister article:  

Theresa May’s former chief of staff has accused the UK’s chief Brexit negotiator, David Frost, of having a “brass neck” after he said the UK government had “blinked first” in negotiations....“We came in after a government and negotiating team that had blinked and had its bluff called at critical moments and the EU had learned not to take our word seriously.

Gavin Barwell, a key member of the former prime minister’s negotiating team, said Boris Johnson’s withdrawal agreement was “95% the work of his predecessors” and a deal had only been secured by conceding to the EU’s demand for some customs checks between Northern Ireland and the rest of Great Britain, which May’s team had not agreed to.

They probably didn't need to since we were still to remain closely aligned? NI's 'sovereignty' was a bit of chocolate on a KitKat? Barnier, of course, sees civil war as a result

The EU’s chief Brexit negotiator said full implementation of the international treaty was vital for avoiding a hard border on the island of Ireland as it was reported that the government is planning legislation to override parts of the deal struck last year.

Meanwhile, back at the talks:

Lord Frost, who will host another crunch round of negotiations in London this week with the EU’s Michel Barnier, told the Mail on Sunday that the UK would leave at the end of the transition period in December “come what may” and would not agree to being a “client state.”...“I don’t think that we are scared of this at all. We want to get back the powers to control our borders and that is the most important thing. If we can reach an agreement that regulates trade like Canada’s, great. If we can’t, it will be an Australian-like trading agreement and we are fully ready for that.”

History will decide. The Graun's preferences have always been clear, of course -- they have never grasped the role of confrontation in negotiation.