May, Tusk to meet in London for Brexit talks

UK Prime Minister Theresa May said she would meet European Council President Donald Tusk in London on Thursday to discuss the start of Brexit negotiations.

“We will be talking about the start of negotiations, how we are going to take these negotiations forward," May said at the launch of the Conservatives' local election campaign.

"We've said very clearly we want to maintain a deep and special partnership with the EU. And I think that has been reciprocated and I'll be talking with President Tusk [about] how we can ensure within the timescale that we've got that we deliver a deal that is going to work for the people of the United Kingdom."

May faces a tough battle ahead. Triggering the start of talks a week ago she demanded that exit negotiations should be held in parallel with discussions on a future trade deal.

Two days later Tusk dismissed this out of hand as he revealed the EU's negotiating position, which called for phased negotiations that dealt with the UK's withdrawal first. This was reinforced by the European Parliament on Wednesday which passed a motion calling for the same process.