Brexit talks 'may start end of 2017’

The Sunday Times claims ministers have warned senior officials in the City of London that the process is likely to be postponed for more than a year, meaning the Brexit would not come into force until at least two years later at the end of 2019.

This is said to be because the ministerial teams charged with the negotiations at the new ministries for Brexit and for international trade and not ready to start negotiating yet and the ministries are understaffed.

It is thought that the French presidential elections, due in May 2017, and the German federal ones in September 2017 may also be a factor in May wishing to put off the start of official Brexit talks.

Brussels spokespeople say that the commission would prefer the process to get under way quickly, however the official rules leave it to the UK to make the first move.

In the meantime a former French agriculture minister and the EU commissioner for the single market, Michel Barnier, has been nominated as the chief negotiator on the EU side.