May vows to stick to Brexit timetable

Theresa May has vowed to stick with the original timetable for Brexit negotiations with Europe.

Her words prompted speculation that David Davis will remain as Brexit Secretary.

Standing outside Number 10, she delivered a brief victory speech after returning from meeting the Queen at Buckingham Palace where she offered to form a minority government backed by the DUP.

The Tory leader declared that “fairness and opportunity [would be] at the heart of everything we do”.

“What the country needs more than ever is certainty and having secured the largest number of votes and the greatest number of seats it is clear that only the Conservative and Unionist Party has the legitimacy and ability to provide that certainty by commanding a majority in the House of Commons,” she said.

Working with “our friends and allies” would “allow us to come together as a country and channel our interests into achieving a Brexit that works for everyone in this country. That’s what we will deliver. Now let’s get to work.”

There have been calls from within May’s own party for her to quit after she said that losing even three seats would mean the Tories had lost the election.