UK's May meets senior ministers to discuss Brexit divorce bill offer

The EU told May on Friday that there was more work to be done to unlock the Brexit talks, repeating its early December deadline for her to flesh out Britain's opening offer on the financial settlement - thought to be worth around 20 billion euros.

May met with ministers amid expectations that she will offer the EU more than she committed to during a speech in Florence in September which failed to provide a meaningful breakthrough in the stalled negotiations.

Despite growing pressure from businesses to show she can drive talks onto the subject of future trading relations with the EU, May's office gave little away as to the conclusions of Monday's meeting.

"It remains our position that nothing's agreed until everything's agreed in negotiations with the EU," a source from May's office said. "As the Prime Minister said this morning, the UK and the EU should step forward together."

Media reports said the ministers had agreed to make an offer which would increase the value of May's existing commitment but gave no specific details. The BBC reported that no specific amounts had been discussed during the meeting.