The refusal to compromise, rapidly becoming a pointofhonour for both parties, is wreaking damage elsewhere, partially shutting down the Federal Aviation Administration (see article) and postponing trade bills.
But at least it has now become as much a pointofhonour in Salzburg to show that one is not a stick-in-the-mud, as it used to be a mark of prestige to get hold of a first-night ticket at all.
Former Labour minister Lord Bach said the government had failed to honour an earlier commitment by former Lord Chancellor Kenneth Clarke to allow support in "point of law" cases at the first-tier tribunal level - the first stage of the tribunal process.