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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Andrew Sparrow

UK appears to capitulate on sequencing on first day of Brexit talks - as it happened

Michel Barnier: ‘very useful start’ to Brexit talks – video

Here’s our report on the first day of talks. You should read it. And it’s goodnight from us.

Davis/Barnier press conference - Summary

Here are the main points from the press conference given by David Davis, the Brexit secretary, and Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, at the end of the first day of the Brexit negotiations.

  • Britain has abandoned attempts to force the EU to start talks on a future trade deal immediately, and instead the UK’s “exit bill”, and other issues, will come first. David and Barnier have agreed a two-page schedule for talks (pdf), including the dates for five rounds of negotiations stretching into October. As the EU demanded, this involves the “exit bill”, the rights of EU nationals and Ireland being discussed before talks on a future trade deal start later in the process. Davis rejected claims that this amounted to a climbdown, arguing that later trade talks will take place in parallel with talks on the exit arrangements , but there is no doubt that the UK has had to back down from its original demands. (See 6.07pm and 6.33pm.)
  • Barnier has said that a “fair deal” for the UK is possible. And he has promised never to work against the UK. He said:

For both the European Union and the United Kingdom, a fair deal is possible and far better than no deal. That is what I said to David today. That’s why we will work all the time with the UK and never against the UK. There will be no hostility on my side. I will display a constructive attitude firmly based on the interests and support of the 27.

Davis also sounded positive. He said that the talks had been “very productive” and that a deal was “eminently achievable”.

  • But Barnier has also said he is not planning to make “concessions” to the UK. Asked if there would be any concession from the EU, he said:

I am not in a frame of mind to make concessions, or ask for concessions. It’s not about punishment, it is not about revenge.

Basically, we are implementing the decision taken by the United Kingdom to leave the European Union, and unravel 43 years of patiently-built relations.

I will do all I can to put emotion to one side and stick to the facts, the figures, and the legal basis, and work with the United Kingdom to find an agreement in that frame of mind ...

The United Kingdom has decided to leave the European Union, it is not the other way around. The United Kingdom is going to leave the European Union, single market and the customs union, not the other way around. So, we each have to assume our responsibility and the consequences of our decisions. And the consequences are substantial.

  • Davis has said that on Monday next week the UK government will publish its proposals to guarantee the rights of EU nationals living in the UK, with reciprocal rights for Britons living on the continent. He said:

Ever since the referendum, I have been clear that my first priority is to provide certainty to European Union citizens living in the United Kingdom, and to UK citizens resident in the European Union — and I know Michel shares that aspiration too.

So now that the negotiations have started, we are determined to get on with the job and deliver that certainty as soon as possible.

The prime minister will later this week update European leaders on the UK’s approach to this issue at the European Council.

We will then publish a detailed paper, outlining our offer on Monday, which I believe will form the right basis on which to reach agreement.

I will also be briefing members of other parties on privy council terms, as well as briefing parliament more generally.

That’s all from me for today.

Thanks for the comments.

Updated

Farron claims Davis has been 'utterly humiliated' after talks sequencing climbdown

Tim Farron, the Lib Dem leader, claims David Davis has been “humiliated”. In a statement Farron said:

David Davis said the row of the summer would be over the sequencing of Brexit talks, and one day in he has capitulated.

The man is a joker. Despite the government’s posturing, the EU was clear today it has not made a single concession to David Davis. He has been utterly humiliated.

In the press conference David Davis, the Brexit secretary, rejected (with more than a hint of tetchiness) the suggestion that he has caved in to the EU over the sequencing of the Brexit talks. (See 5.58pm.)

But the commentariat isn’t convinced. The verdict from political journalists and commentators is in. And it’s clear - he caved.

From ITV’s political editor Robert Peston

From the Guardian’s diplomatic editor, Patrick Wintour

From the New Statesman’s Stephen Bush

From the Daily Mirror’s Jason Beattie

From the Guardian’s Paul Johnson

Q: [To Davis] You said recently the row over sequencing would be “the row of the summer”. (See 6.07pm.) Have you given up on that?

Davis reads from the article 50 letter. He says later trade will be negotiated alongside the other issues, as the UK government demanded.

Barnier says it makes sense to proceed in the manner that has been agreed.

Q: [To Barnier] Have you have to make any concessions to the British?

He says the UK has decided to leave the EU, not the other way round. The consequences will be significant.

He is not out to punish the UK, he says.

He says he will do all he can to put emotion to one side and stick to the facts.

And that’s it. The press conference is over.

I will post a summary soon.

The Mirror’s Jack Blanchard has tweeted what David Davis said earlier this year, when he said that if the EU did not agree to negotiate trade at the same time as everything else, that would trigger “the row of the summer”.

Q: {To Davis] Why does Ireland not get its own set of talks devoted to it?

The questioner refers to this passage from the document agreed today. (See 5.59pm.)

The following initial negotiating groups have been established.

Citizens’ rights

Financial Settlement;

Other Separation issues.

In addition, a dialogue on Ireland / Northern Ireland has been launched under the authority of the Coordinators.

Davis says that the questioner is reading this wrong. Ireland is not in one of the three groups because it is more important.

Barnier makes a similar point, saying Ireland is being considered at the highest level.

Q: [To Barnier] How confident are you that Davis will still be here to conclude these talks, given the instability of the Conservative government and its reliance on the DUP?

Barnier says he follows UK politics closely. But it is not for him to comment. As far as he is concerned, he is negotiating with Davis, he says.

Here is a link to the document setting out what has been agreed today. Mina Andreeva is deputy chief spokeswoman for the European commission.

Davis rejects claims that he has to cave in to EU demands over talks timetable

Q: [To Davis] You have agreed to conduct these reports as they EU wanted. Does that reveal your lack of leverage? [The government wanted to start talks on a future trade deal at the same time as talks on money and the rights of EU nationals, not later as has been agreed.]

Davis says that what matters is how the talks end, not how they start.

He says that at the end nothing will be agreed until everything is agreed.

What has been decided today is consistent with the government’s article 50 letter, he says.

  • Davis rejects claims that he has to cave in to EU demands over talks timetable.

Q: [To Davis] What sort of Brexit do you want?

Davis says the position has not changed. It is as set out in Theresa May’s Lancaster House speech, he says.


They are now taking questions.

Q: When will you come up with plans for Ireland?

Davis says Ireland took up more time than anything else. They focused on the political issues, and the desire to maintain an open border.

This is a technically difficult issue, but it is solvable, he says.

This is right at the top of priorities to be resolved.

Barnier says this is one of the most sensitive issues facing the talks.

He says he has been in contact with the new Irish taoiseach, Leo Varadkar.

Without producing a new hard border, they have to find rules for goods and services, without undermining the integrity of the single market, he says.

He says they hope to find “imaginative and concrete solutions”.

David Davis says a deal is 'eminently achievable'

David Davis is speaking now.

He says the talks were “very constructive”. He says a deal is “eminently achievable”.

  • David Davis says a deal is “eminently achievable”.

He says they will achieve more if they work together.

And nowhere is this more clear than in relation to the rights of citizens, he says.

He says Theresa May will brief EU leaders on her plans at the EU council on Thursday.

And on Monday the government will publish its plans for guaranteeing the rights of EU citizens.

  • May to publish plans for guaranteeing the rights of EU nationals in the UK next week, says Davis.

Davis finishes by quoting Churchill. He says the pessimistic seems difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees possibility in every difficulty.

Updated

Barnier says 'a fair deal is possible, and far better than no deal'

Barnier says it will be up to the European council, led by Donald Tusk, to decide later if sufficient progress has been made on these issues to allow talks to move on to trade.

He says, in leaving the EU, it will no longer have the same rights and opportunities as EU members.

But the EU can build a new partnership with the UK, and that will contribute to stability on the continent.

He says “a fair deal is possible, and far better than no deal”.

  • Barnier says “a fair deal is possible, and far better than no deal”.
  • He says he will work all the time “with the UK, and never against the UK”.

Barnier ends by quoting Jean Monnet, one of the founders of the EU. Asked if he was optimistic or pessimistic, he said he was neither; he was determined, he said.

David Davis and Michel Barnier hold press conference after Brexit talks

David Davis, the Brexit secretary, and Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, are holding their press conference.

Barnier says today’s session was very useful. They got off on the right foot as the clock is ticking.

They agreed on dates, on organisation and on priorities, he says.

  • Barnier says he and Davis have agreed on dates, on organisation and on priorities.

He says they want to first ensure that the UK’s withdrawal takes place in an orderly manner.

The aim is to have one week of negotiations every month.

The time in between will be used to work on proposals.

In the first stage, they will conduct the talks in three groups: citizens’ rights; finances; and other issues.

Those three groups will report to Davis and Barnier.

They will discuss Ireland, including the maintenance of the common travel area.

The Tory/DUP talks about their proposed “confidence and supply” deal may not wrap up any time soon. Asked about them in Belfast, the senior DUP assembly member Simon Hamilton said:

They will take as long as they take. We are working away at them and will continue to work away at them. We are hopeful of getting resolution to them as quickly as we possibly can.

Sky’s David Blevins tweeted this earlier.

Here is another picture from the room where the Brexit talks were taking place.

Brexit secretary David Davis and his delegation sit across from the EU’s chief Bexit negotiator Michael Barnier at the start of Brexit negotiations at the European Commission HQ in Brussels.
Brexit secretary David Davis and his delegation sit across from the EU’s chief Bexit negotiator Michael Barnier at the start of Brexit negotiations at the European Commission HQ in Brussels. Photograph: POOL/Reuters

Sir Keir Starmer, the shadow Brexit secretary, has written an article for the Guardian setting out Labour’s demands for Brexit.

Here’s an extract.

The prime minister’s failure to secure a mandate or a majority has also caused huge uncertainty about the government’s Brexit approach. The chancellor clearly advocates a softening of strategy. Yet Brexiteers in the cabinet and on Conservative backbenches will fiercely oppose any such change of emphasis. May lacks the authority to either drive through her stated Brexit approach or to change course. In the weeks to come she will have to choose. No wonder the German foreign minister has spoken of a “difficult, even impossible situation”, where the prime minister is “without clear majorities and [a] clear negotiation strategy”.

The belligerent approach May has adopted has also served to weaken our relations with the EU, alienated our allies and left Britain short of goodwill acrossEurope. This really matters, because, if we are to deliver a Brexit deal that works for Britain and delivers a strong new partnership with the EU, we will need to work with and not against the other 27 member states.

The highlight from Theresa May’s press conference with her new Irish opposite number, Leo Varadkar, may turn out to be Varadkar, in his opening remarks, saying he was excited to visit Number 10 for the first time because he was reminded of the famous dancing down the stairs scene in Love Actually.

ITV’s political editor Robert Peston thinks this does not reflect well on national prestige.

Ukip has put out a statement about the Brexit talks. It seems to think that the two-year talks are a waste of time. This is from Gerard Batten, Ukip’s Brexit spokesman.

All talk of negotiating a good deal is codswallop. A good deal for the EU would be a bad deal for the UK.

Our government should seize the initiative and tell the EU how Britain is going to leave, not ask it how it might be done.

If our government really wanted to leave the EU they would put a bill before parliament to repeal the European Communities Act (1972) as the first step in the process, not the final step.

And this, from William Dartmouth, Ukip’s trade spokesman, explains how the party thinks the UK should just make the EU a take-it-or-leave-it offer on trade. He said:

The main area for an agreement is that of trade. The EU has 58 existing regional trade area agreements with non-EU countries. These can be free of the common external tariffs, if mutually agreed, and never include the free movement of people, as defined in the treaties.

HM government can offer the EU a tariff-free RTA agreement. This can be accepted or rejected by the EU quickly. If the EU rejects the offer then we can return to trade on World Trade Organisation terms. Tariffs are zero on most things, and are on average about 4.3%.

They are higher on some industrial and agricultural produce, and will effect German car manufacturers and French farmers most. It would affect those countries far more than Britain, and it would be more in their interests to reach a tariff-free RTA agreement more than it is in ours.

Brexit department says first day of talks have been 'constructive'

Back to the Brexit talks, and the Brexit department has tweeted a picture of David David and Michel Barnier with their respective gifts. (See 3.12pm.)

You’ll note that the Brexit department is also saying the talks have been “constructive”.

Q: Do you think the election result has changed the British stance on Brexit?

May says she does not recognise the terms hard and soft Brexit. She wants a deep and special relationship with the EU. She says she remains absolutely committed to the common travel area.

And that’s it. The press conference is over.

Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar in Number 10 with Theresa May.
Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar in Number 10 with Theresa May. Photograph: SIMON DAWSON / POOL/EPA

Q: Tory MPs are briefing that Boris Johnson or David Davis should be your successor. What is your message to them?

May says the government is getting on with the job of tackling the challenges the country faces, like Brexit. She and the government are doing that.

Q: Russia is tracking western planes flying across Syria. How worried are you about that?

May says measures are in place to stop Russian and western planes attacking each other. Those measures will stay in place.

Q: [To Varadkar] How worried about the DUP deal are you in the light of their views on gay marriage?

Varadkar says he has met Arlene Foster, the DUP leader. He told her what he thought about this. They did not have a meeting of minds. But he is sure the UK government’s commitment to equal marriage would continue.

He says marriage equality in Northern Ireland is a matter of when, not if.

Updated

Q: What reassurances did May give you about the border?

Varadkar says it is a matter of regret that the UK is leaving the EU. But it is the UK’s decision. He says he wants to ensure they do not return to the borders of the past.

He says he cannot give details of how this will happen. But they have a shared desire to minimise the disruption to trade.

May says she wants to ensure that trade between Northern Ireland and the Republic is as frictionless as possible. She wants to get the best possible trade deal to allow that to happen.

Varadkar says he told May he was concerned about prospect of Tory/DUP deal

Q: When will there be a deal with the DUP?

May says she continues discussions with the DUP. When there is one, it will be published, so that people can see what it involves.

She says she is working to re-establish power-sharing?

Q: [To Varadkar] Did you pass on your concerns to May about the deal with the DUP?

Varadkar says he did. But he says he was reassured by what she said about it being published.

  • Varadkar says he told May he was concerned about the prospect of a Tory/DUP deal. But he says he was “very reassured” by what she had to say about her commitment to the Good Friday agreement.

Theresa May's press conference

Theresa May is holding a press conference now with the Irish taoiseach, Leo Varadkar.

Defeated Tory candidate set to be made peer and Scottish minister

Ian Duncan, the Conservative MEP who narrowly failed to unseat the SNP’s longest serving MP, Pete Wishart, in the general election, is being offered a peerage and an appointment as junior minister at the Scotland Office.

Despite the rout of the SNP by the Tories in north-east Scotland and the Borders which saw Alex Salmond and Angus Robertson lose their seats, Duncan failed to win the key Tory target seat of Perth and North Perthshire by just 21 votes.

The Dundee Courier reported that Duncan is now being tipped to replace Lord Andrew Dunlop, who stood down as deputy to Scottish secretary David Mundell, the day after the election after the Tories won 13 Westminster seats in Scotland - their best general election result since 1983.

The SNP leader and first minister Nicola Sturgeon said this was further evidence of a Conservative culture of cronyism. She tweeted:

Speaking on BBC Radio Scotland about the start today of the Brexit talks in Brussels, Duncan confirmed that talks about taking up a peerage were underway.

In contrast to UK government ministers, who refuse to countenance including the Scottish government in the Brexit talks, Duncan said he had “no problem” with Scottish ministers helping to shape and decide the UK’s negotiating position or potentially being included in the UK negotiating team. He said:

Yes, I have no problem with that. I think that should be a common approach to all the home nations so that they can see exactly what is going on

But more importantly, they need to make sure that they have a seat at the discussion point in London when these positions are being hammered out because that is where the detail will be determined not actually inside the room.

Updated

More on the David Davis/Michel Barnier exchange of gifts. (See 2.40pm.) I said earlier that they both related to Barnier’s passion for hiking, which he shares with Theresa May. But a government source points out that Barnier was also acknowledging Davis’s love for climbing and mountaineering.

Davis bought Barnier a first edition of a French language version of Regards vers Annapurna, described as one of the great mountaineering books. It is signed by Marcel Ichac, one of the two authors. Apparently it’s “a stunning account of an epic French expedition to the Himalayas in 1950”.

And Barnier bought Davis a traditional wooden walking stick from Savoie, his home town. It is hand-carved, with a leather wrist strap.

To add to the jollity, they seem to have had a good lunch too. Here is the menu.

Belgian Asparagus (from Malines) with Vinaigrette

Red mullet with vegetables and fondant potatoes

Vacherin (meringue cake) with wild strawberries

Mocha coffee and cakes

Updated

“Retweets are not endorsements”, as they say on Twitter - except they normally are. With that in mind, it is worth pointing out that George Osborne, the new Evening Standard editor, is using his Twitter feed to promote an article by the Tory columnist Tim Montgomerie saying that Theresa May should go.

Here’s an extract from Montgomerie’s article.

Tory MPs, returning in a shell-shocked daze to Westminster for this week’s low-fat, low-content Queen’s Speech, must quickly recognise that Theresa May is as finished as Mrs Clinton. Every day she remains in charge is a wasted day. Every day the country inches closer to an election for which Jeremy Corbyn will have added more activists to his impressive turnout machine. Equally, the Conservatives will have one less day to rebuild their own offering and operation.

David Davis and Michel Barnier exchanged hiking-related gifts when they started the Brexit talks, Politico Europe reports.

Both gifts related to something Barnier said at a press conference last month, when he spoke about meeting Theresa May over dinner at Downing Street. Barnier spoke about their shared love of hiking, and used it as a metaphor for the Brexit process. He said:

On a personal basis I had the opportunity to discuss a shared passion with Theresa May which is rambling and hiking in the mountains.”

If you like walking in the mountains you have to learn a number of rules. You have to learn to put one foot in front of the other, because sometimes you are on a steep and rocky path.

You also have to look what accidents might befall you – falling rocks. You have to be very careful to keep your breath, you have to have stamina, because it could be a lengthy path and you have to keep looking at the summit.

Updated

Here is my colleague Jennifer Rankin on the timetable for the Brexit talks.

British nationals have called on Theresa May to respond to the EU’s offer to guarantee their rights with “magnanimity”.

They want the prime minister to come through with the “repricocity” that she demanded from the EU before committing to allowing Europeans to stay in the UK with the attendant rights including the right to live, work, and have family join them.

The EU has officially offered to guarantee all the existing rights of Britons settled in Europe up to the day Britain leaves the union but has yet to have a response from the British government

This includes, for example, the freedom of movement of those currently settled in Germany, France or Spain to live or retire in another European country beyond Brexit Day.

The British government was reportedly planning to make a “generous” offer but would make 29 March 2017 the cut-off date, compared with the EU’s cut-off date of 29 March 2019.

Sources with the Department for Exiting the European Union have indicated that this offer may become public early this week.

Jane Golding, the Berlin-based chair of British in Europe, said:

The EU offer now gives us almost everything we need and abides by a core principle which both sides should respect: that the rights of citizens in place before Brexit (including the 3 million EU citizens in the UK) should remain unchanged. We applaud that, as well as the EU’s transparency in this matter.

The EU offer gives plenty of detail and goes almost all the way to guaranteeing all our rights, but everything depends on how the UK decides to respond. We expect the UK, which has said it will be guided by the principle of reciprocity, to respond with similar magnanimity.

Updated

Syed Kamall, the leader of the European Conservatives and Reformists group in the European parliament, to which the Tory MEPs belong, said he would act as a bridge between Downing Street and the EU institutions during the negotiations. He said:

The start of negotiations today is important for both the UK and the EU. A calm, constructive, and cooperative approach to talks is what will bring about the most progress in the coming weeks and months.

At the heart of these negotiations are people’s lives and livelihoods, and that is why a bad deal for one side will also be a bad deal for the other. We should aim for an arrangement that safeguards trade and allows continued co-operation in key areas of mutual interest for our security and economies. We may not be members of the same club once the UK leaves the EU, but we will remain neighbours and allies.

Hopefully Brexit negotiations will benefit all of the EU, by allowing the EU to reflect upon its own future direction and relationships.

Back to the Conservative party leadership, and it seems that Nigel Farage, the former Ukip leader, is backing David Davis. (See 10.46am.) This is from the Telegraph’s Christopher Hope.

Update: My colleague Claire Phipps points out that Hope seems to have knocked down his own Telegraph splash. (See 10.46am.)

Updated

Apologies for the radio silence. My computer has been up the spout, but I’m back in business now.

At the No 10 lobby briefing the prime minister’s spokeswoman said that Melanie Dawes, the permanent secretary at the department for communities, had written to the chief executives of all councils and housing associations in England urging them to check their buildings to see if any of their flats have cladding similar to that in place at Grenfell Tower.

Here is an extract from the letter.

There has been much public concern and comment about potential flaws in the cladding that was on Grenfell Tower. While the exact reasons for the speed of the spread of fire have yet to be determined, we have concluded that there are additional tests that can be undertaken with regard to the cladding. We are therefore asking local authorities and other registered providers of social housing to identify whether any panels used in new build or refurbishment are a particular type of cladding made of aluminium composite material (ACM). More details on how to identify this cladding are in the attached technical note and the Homes and Communities Agency can offer expert support in surveying your properties if necessary. It is important to stress that ACM cladding is not of itself dangerous, but it is important that the right type is used.

In her letter, Dawes says that once inspections are complete, and any necessary remedial work has been identified, her department will “work with housing associations and local authorities to identify the most appropriate options for supporting funding”.

Updated

May is still speaking.

She says when she became prime minister she spoke about the union that binds us together.

That involves freedom, including religious freedom. She says this attack was a “sickening” attempt to deny people those freedoms.

She said after the Borough Market attack that there had been too much tolerance of extremism. That includes Islamophobia, she says.

She says the government will stop at nothing to defeat this.

Today’s attack came at a difficult time for London. She is chairing another meeting about Grenfell Tower later today, she says.

But London is one of the most vibrant cities on earth, she says. It will prevail.

Updated

Theresa May's statement about the Finsbury Park attack

Theresa May is speaking about the Finsbury Park attack now from outside Number 10.

She says police officers responded to the attack within one minute. It was categorised as a terrorist attack within eight minutes.

The attacker, a white man aged 48, was bravely detained by people on the scene and then arrested.

The assessment of police is that he acted alone.

May says extra police resources have already been deployed to reassure mosques.

This was an attack on Muslims near their place of worship and like all terrorism, of whatever form, it shares the same goal.

She says the attack was intended to drive people apart.

We will not let that happen.

(You can read full coverage of the reaction to the Finsbury Park attack on my colleague Matthew Weaver’s live blog.)

Updated

I’m back from the lobby briefing, and I will post a summary soon. There weren’t any great surprises.

Theresa May has been chairing a Cobra meeting about last night’s Finsbury Park terror attack and she is about to make a statement about it.

Updated

One of the key issues in the early stages of the Brexit talks is the rights of EU citizens living in the UK, and the rights of Britons living on the continent. My colleague Jon Henley has a good explainer here.

I’m just off to the lobby briefing now. I will post again after 11.30am.

Here are three stories from today’s papers with the latest on Tory leadership speculation.

David Davis has emerged as the unity candidate to lead the Conservative party after he was tipped for the post by allies of Boris Johnson ...

Mr Johnson, the foreign secretary, is still widely seen as the most likely successor to Mrs May and the suggestion that Mr Davis is best placed to mount a challenge could be an attempt to smoke out his rival.

But one ally of Mr Johnson said Mr Davis would be a “serious contender” for the leadership if it was vacated and the “perfect tonic” against a resurgent Jeremy Corbyn after his unexpectedly strong performance in the general election ...

The call for Mr Davis to be ready to step in as prime minister was backed by a senior Eurosceptic Tory source who said: “Camp DD is very conscious that the mantle of history is moving towards slowly towards them and they are not stirring things up.

“I cannot see how he is not going to get it. It will have to be a leaver this time. If it comes down to Boris v DD, Boris is not free of the toxic NHS stuff.”

Philip Hammond exacted his revenge on Theresa May yesterday, attacking her campaign “mistakes” as he set out his stall to replace her at No 10.

The chancellor, earmarked for the sack during the election, said that the prime minister had blundered by failing to challenge Jeremy Corbyn’s credibility and promote the government’s own economic record.

He disappointed businesses that had hoped he would openly call for Britain to stay in the customs union after leaving the EU, although he hinted at a lengthy transition period before a “long-term” replacement was in place.

In what will be seen as a pitch to Tory MPs desperate to hold off Labour’s advance, Mr Hammond indicated that public spending would rise and planned cuts to pensioner benefits would be scrapped. His commitment not to increase borrowing suggests tax rises for higher earners in the autumn budget.

Boris Johnson has denied he was discussing whether to run to be Conservative leader with Sir Michael Fallon, a key cabinet ally of Theresa May over a pint in a Kent pub.

Mr Johnson, the foreign secretary, was spotted having a drink with Sir Michael, the defence secretary, at the Bricklayers’ Arms in Chipstead, Kent on Saturday evening.

The meeting on Saturday came as speculation swirled around the prime minister’s chances of continuing as Tory leader after she failed to win a majority at the general election and criticism for her handling of the Grenfell Tower fire tragedy.

Updated

An opening session of talks, during which the UK’s Brexit secretary, David Davis, and the EU’s chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, sat down together for the first time to formally negotiate terms of the UK’s withdrawal, started shortly after 10am UK time.
Barnier and Davis will scope out a timetable for the negotiations during the hour-and-a-half session, before taking an early “working lunch”.

In the afternoon, officials from both sides will spend some two-and-a-half hours in working groups responding to any agreement from the two principal negotiators, and working up a detailed plan.
The most senior officials coordinating the negotiations – Sabine Weyand, who is the European commission’s deputy chief negotiator, and Olly Robbins, the permanent secretary at the Department for Exiting the EU – will also meet in the afternoon.

A closing session between Barnier and Davis will start at 5.30pm, before they again emerge to brief the world’s media at a press conference in the European commission’s Berlaymont building.

Michel Barnier, centre right, and David Davis, centre left, with colleagues arriving for the talks.
Michel Barnier, centre right, and David Davis, centre left, with colleagues arriving for the talks. Photograph: Geert Vanden Wijngaert/AP

Updated

David Davis, the Brexit secretary, and Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief Brexit negotiators, both made statements to the press before the start of their talks.

Davis said:

I’m in Brussels today, like Michel, to begin the next phase of our work to build a new, deep and special relationship with the European Union.

As Michel said, our thoughts this morning are rightly with the victims and families of the awful attack in London early this morning and of course also with those who have lost loved ones in Portugal.

It’s at testing times like these that we are reminded of the values and the resolve that we share with our closest allies in Europe. There is more that unites us than divides us. So while there will undoubtedly be challenging times ahead of us in the negotiations, we will do all that we can to ensure that we deliver a deal that works in the best interest of all citizens.

To that end, we start this negotiation in a positive and constructive tone, determined to build a strong and special partnership between ourselves and our European allies and friends.

And this is what Barnier said:

My very first words are to express my deep sympathies to the British people, that you face tragic events. Just as I want to express our solidarity to the Portuguese people.

Welcome David. Today we are launching the negotiations on orderly withdrawal of the UK form the EU. Our objective is clear, we must first tackle uncertainties caused by Brexit. First for citizens, also for beneficiaries of EU policies and the impact on borders in particular Ireland. I hope that today we can identify priorities and the timetable that will allow me to report to the European Council later this week that we have a constructive start to negotiations

David Davis (left) and Michel Barnier.
David Davis (left) and Michel Barnier. Photograph: Stephanie Lecocq/EPA

Barnier says he hopes to agree timetable with Davis as Brexit talks open

Here is more on the opening of the talks between David Davis and Michel Barnier.

From my colleague Jennifer Rankin

From my colleague Daniel Boffey

From the Daily Mail’s John Stevens

David Davis and Michel Barnier start Brexit talks

The Brexit talks are starting. This is from my colleague Daniel Boffey.

My colleague Jennifer Rankin, the Guardian’s Brussels correspondent, thinks Boris Johnson is not quite as upbeat about the potential benefits of Brexit as he was in the EU referendum campaign this time last year.

Boris Johnson has said a Brexit deal can be sealed with “profit and honour” on both sides, hours before the opening of the formal negotiations in Brussels.

The foreign secretary admitted there would need to be a discussion about the UK’s divorce bill but he said that both sides needed to “look to the horizon”, as he arrived at a meeting of EU ministers in Luxembourg.

Obviously this is the first day of the talks on Brexit and I think the most important thing is we should all start – of course there’ll be lots of discussions about the nature of the deal we are going to do - but I think we should also enter on the discussion about money and so and so forth.

But I think the most important think about us now is for us to look to the horizon. Raise our eyes to the horizon. Think about the future. Think about the new partnership.

The deep and special partnership that we want to build with our friends and I think in the long run this will be good for the UK and good for the rest of Europe. That’s we are hoping for.

Johnson, who has previously described the bill estimates emerging from Brussels as “absurd”, added:

I think the whole thing, the whole process will lead to a happy resolution that I think can be done with profit and with honour for both side and that’s what we’re aiming for.

The negotiations between Brexit secretary David Davis and the EU’s chief negotiator Michel Barnier are due to start at 10am UK time.

Updated

Johnson and Gove back May amid Tory leadership speculation

Most days, at some point while it’s on air between 6am and 9am, the Today programme interviews a member of the cabinet. But it is normally only one cabinet minister. No 10 helps to decide who goes on, and they don’t offer two.

This morning Michael Gove, the new environment secretary (and leaving Vote Leave campaigner) was on soon after 8.10am. He was talking about Brexit, but he also used his interview to give a ringing endorsement of Theresa May. Asked if she would be around to deliver the Brexit plan, he replied: “Yes.” Then, asked if he was sure she would still be in power when Brexit happened, he said:

Yes, I am. I think there’s support across the Conservative party for Theresa. Also support for the position she outlined both before, during and after the election.

Normally that would be it from the cabinet. But this morning, less than 10 minutes later, Boris Johnson, the foreign secretary, whose own bid for the Tory leadership last summer flopped when Gove quit as his campaign manager, was on the blower too offering his thoughts on Brexit and the future of May. He said he was just as convinced as Gove was that May would survive.

My strong feeling is that the last thing the electorate wants is more elections, or more political shenanigans of one kind or another. There is a huge task to get on with Brexit. We’ve got to do it well, we can do it in a positive way, I think we can build something absolutely brilliant out of this, a new deep, special partnership with our European friends, and a great free trade deal.

All very odd, as Today’s Nick Robinson (and others) have pointed out.

So, what’s up? Well, let’s have a look at yesterday’s Sunday papers.

As I explain in a Guardian article today, talk of an imminent leadership challenge to May seems premature. But manoeuvring for position, in the expectation of a vacancy opening up at some point, is obviously happening and today, in the Telegraph and the Times respectively, both David Davis and Philip Hammond are being touted as possible successors.

Gove is not seen as a future leadership candidate, but, following his return to the cabinet, he is entirely dependent on May’s patronage and so his decision to talk up her chances of surviving is understandable. Johnson’s motives are probably different; he has been harbouring ambitions to be prime minister since he was a schoolboy, but he knows the Conservative party takes a dim view of treachery, which may be why he is so keen to engage in loyalty-signalling.

Gove and Johnson both spoke about Brexit, but what they had to say on that subject was slightly less interesting than their competitive May-endorsing. I will post their comments soon.

Here is the agenda for the day. (All times are UK time.)

10am: David Davis, the Brexit secretary, and Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, formally launch the Brexit negotiations in Brussels.

11am: Number 10 lobby briefing.

12pm: Ed Miliband, the former Labour leader, hosts Jeremy Vine’s Radio 2 phone-in. He is standing in for Vine for the week.

2pm: Theresa May holds a press conference after talks in Downing Street with the new Irish taoiseach, Leo Varadkar.

5.30pm: Davis and Barnier hold a press conference.

As usual, I will be covering breaking political news as it happens, as well as bringing you the best reaction, comment and analysis from the web. I plan to post a summary at lunchtime and another after the Davis/Barnier press conference.

You can read all today’s Guardian politics stories here.

If you want to follow me or contact me on Twitter, I’m on @AndrewSparrow.

I try to monitor the comments BTL but normally I find it impossible to read them all. If you have a direct question, do include “Andrew” in it somewhere and I’m more likely to find it. I do try to answer direct questions, although sometimes I miss them or don’t have time. Alternatively you could post a question to me on Twitter.

Updated

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