Britain's mixed messages deepen Brexit rifts with EU

Demonstrators take part in a protest aimed at showing London's solidarity with the European Union following the recent EU referendum, in Trafalgar Square, central London, Britain

In the hours before Theresa May stepped to the podium in Birmingham earlier this month to lay out her vision for a "fully independent, sovereign" Britain, she made a discreet round of telephone calls to European leaders.

Her aim, according to British officials, was to head off any surprise or confusion in Berlin, Paris, Brussels and other capitals over the message she was about to deliver to hundreds of her Conservative Party colleagues.