Copenhagen bogged down in "processfest"

Breaking news from Copenhagen Climate Change talks: 09.00am

Someone closely involved in the negotiations is telling us the talks that went on overnight actually moved backwards. Gordon Brown woke an angry man this morning, expressing “serious frustration” that the talks he left last night at 2.30am had become bogged down in what was described as a “processfest”

The overnight meeting of 26 nations, rich and poor - including the US, Germany, Sweden, Gabon and Papau New Guinea - was meant to forge a way ahead but ended up talking more about the text rather than the substance of an agreement.

The Prime Minister left Ed Milliband, the Energy Minister in charge when he left for some sleep, so he’lll be marked down for letting things slide.

Mr Brown, we are told, made a intervention this morning into a fairly chaotic meeting when he returned to the talks here in the Bella Centre. Remember he’s only one of 26 leaders coming and going through the revolving door to the negotiations but he is a man with a plan. He apparently is “fighting hard”, his officials told us earlier, to try and get a flavour of the points he raised in his speech yesterday onto the agenda. “We’re still trying to get a consensus on substantive content,” said this source. That doesn’t sound very encouraging.

Overnight the press pack reckoned that Obama would touch down - Airforce One is on the ground now - sign the papers, pose for a picture and jet out again, leaving us to mop up and head from a snowbound Denmark to a snowbound Britain.

The Chinese had indicated they would move on transpaerency and inspection of their carbon accounts,Hilary Clinton had put money on the table, and the mood music from the Prime Minister, when he briefed us yesterday was that we were “absolutely” more than half-way to a deal.

That doesn’t look such a likely prospect right now, but hey, it’s only early morning.