Britain should prepare quickly to start negotiations warns European Union

EU President Donald Tusk bluntly warned that the clock was now ticking for negotiations on Britain's exit and a new trade deal before it formally leaves the bloc in March 2019. “We don't know when Brexit talks start. We know when they must end. Do your best to avoid a 'no deal ‘as result of’ any negotiations,” former Polish Prime Minister Tusk wrote on Twitter.

This is the first official response from the EU since the results of the British general elections been announced. There are fears that negotiations might not start on time and Britain might missed the deadline of 19th June. The statements from Brussels suggest that there is disappointment at the results of the elections.

But EU budget commissioner Guenther Oettinger said Britain's May was now likely to be a “weak” partner. “The British need to negotiate their exit but with a weak negotiating partner, there is a danger that the talks are bad for both parties,” Oettinger told German radio, adding that “the next few hours or days will indicate if the other negotiating party can even begin talks because without a government, there can be no negotiations.”