Brexit talks kick off in Brussels as May urged to soften stance on key demands

Brussels

BREXIT talks finally began on Monday, almost a year since Britons voted to leave the European Union (EU) and amid confusion over what exactly the UK government wants from the divorce.

What UK Brexit Secretary David Davis describes as the "most complicated negotiation of all time" began at 11 am in Brussels with Prime Minister Theresa May's government already on the back foot. An attempt to strengthen her hand by calling an election backfired and she's run into further domestic strife since, while the 27 other EU members started out with more leverage.

"We are starting this negotiation in a positive and constructive tone," Mr Davis said in comments to reporters from the European Commission's Berlaymont building headquarters. "There is more that unites us than divides us." The electoral debacle has put Mrs May's own position in doubt, fuelling a new battle within her Conservative party over the kind of Brexit the UK should seek. Some of her ministers want to refashion her strategy towards protecting…