Warm words in London, isolation in Brussels

The video footage of Theresa May standing alone, looking for someone to talk to, at Thursday’s EU summit quickly went viral, and prompted an indignant reaction from the UK’s right-wing tabloids.

It was the perfect metaphor: welcome to self-imposed isolation.

So, too, is the fact that EU leaders spent just 20 minutes discussing Brexit in Brussels, after Mrs May had flown back across the Channel. Leaving the EU may be the government’s chief policy priority, but not top of the EU’s ...