Two things happened today which are really telling.
The first was a hastily convened meeting in Downing Street attended by representatives of British business and leading EU business leaders, who read the riot act to ministers about the muddle of the Brexit negotiations and the fact that not a single thing was yet agreed, making the future for trade and business dangerously uncertain.
Flustered ministers promised that things were happening. Whether they are or not remains to be seen. This inept government, unique in British history for its inability to govern coherently, either cannot tell the difference between the generalities of a speech, ie Florence, and the specifics of the offers needed to advance towards a deal. Or it cannot agree among its ranks what those specifics should be. The clear message now coming loud and clear to the hapless cabinet mired in argument, plotting and scandal is this. Time is running out.
The second and even more telling is the announcement within the past hour that parliament will be given a vote on the final terms of whatever deal is agreed with the EU, before it can come into force. Parliament will have the power to reject a deal for which there is no majority. That means hard Brexit is out. If that is all the government has finally to offer, Brexit is over.