Alex Forsyth
Political correspondent

Image source, AFP/Getty

Martin Selmayr, chief of staff to EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, has said Brexit will never be a success as it is a "sad" and "sorry" event.

Speaking at a political event in Brussels, he said the process could be managed in a professional and pragmatic way - but it was certainly not a success story.

Asked if Theresa May was "a bloody difficult woman", he said they had come to know her as an impressive woman and impressive negotiator and that was good for negotiations.

He said there had been a lot of havoc around the dinner between Mrs May and Mr Juncker in Downing Street earlier this week - and it was normal for positions to be wide apart in negotiations.

He said they must keep an orderly process because – like a divorce – this was a sad moment, and rules must be followed.

But he thought the “pragmatic Brits” would enter into negotiations in good faith, Mr Selmayr said, adding that the remaining 27 EU members were united and would approach the negotiations professionally.

Radio 4 PM

The timing of Theresa May's statement was "deliberate" to try to turn the UK's friends into enemies for short-term electoral gain, Lib Dem leader Tim Farron told Radio 4's PM programme.

And that "diminished" the office of prime minister. 

He said of her comments on EU politicians: 

She should instead be making sure the UK stayed within the single market, he said.

And the British people should have the final say on any Brexit deal, rather than it being a political "stitch-up", he added.

BBC News Channel

Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has accused Theresa May of being "deeply irresponsible and reckless" with her claims that elements of the EU are seeking to influence the UK general election.

Ms Sturgeon said the UK needed "the best possible deal with the EU, despite all the bravado of the UK" and accused the PM of making the claims "for purely partisan reasons".

She questioned why Mrs May would want to "poison" negotiations when it would be "against the national interest", finally conceding it was an attempt to "distract attention away" from the Conservatives' "appalling record" on the economy and austerity.

Ms Sturgeon said Mrs May's comments would make the process of Brexit negotiations "more difficult", saying she was "wilfully sabotaging" them.

"She's demonstrating that she wants to fight this election on narrow partisant interests," Ms Sturgeon added.

EU officials have held a background briefing in Brussels this afternoon to discuss some of the issues laid out in chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier's press conference earlier.

The BBC's Kevin Connolly attended the briefing and offers this guidance:  

The technical briefing makes the point that the Barnier mandate covers only phase one of the Brexit process – that is the talks on citizens rights, the financial settlement and the Irish border.

A subsequent mandate will be needed for the second phase of talks which will cover the future relationship between the EU and the UK.

The point is made that it is the EU – and by implication Barnier himself – who will decide when "sufficient progress"’ has been made on phase one issues to allow a transition to phase two talks. 

It’s stressed that wouldn’t mean agreement on an actual figure to pay, in the case of the money, but on agreed principles for reaching a mutually acceptable deal – in other words a methodology.

The two difficult aspects of the technical briefing are as follows.

The EU will insist that any mutual deal on the rights of resident citizens will have to be guaranteed by the European Court of Justice - whose jurisdiction Theresa May is keen to escape. 

And that jurisdiction on matters like health and education might stretch far into the future. The suggestion is that this is non-negotiable because, without oversight, any deal on rights would be meaningless.

The second difficulty is the EU position that the UK is liable for a share of spending commitments but is NOT entitled to a share of assets. 

That’s because those assets are owned by the EU as an entity, not by the member states, and of course the EU is NOT being wound up. 

The US banking giant says it is moving the London jobs to mainland Europe to prepare for Brexit.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has accused Theresa May of "playing party games with Brexit" in the hope of winning advantage for the Conservatives in the general election.

He said her statement, in which she claimed the EU was trying to influence the UK general election, was "winding up the public confrontation with Brussels".

It was attempt to "wrap the Conservative party in the Union Jack and distract attention from her government's economic failure and run down of our public services", he said.

Laura Kuenssberg
BBC political editor

Image source, Getty Images

A few days ago it was just "Brussels gossip".

Yesterday she swore to be a "bloody difficult woman" - stern words.

But this morning, the chancellor and the Brexit secretary said the noises off out of Brussels and suggestions of an exit bill of 100bn euros were only "manoeuvring" and that the UK would not be pulled into "megaphone diplomacy".

By 15:30, the prime minister was standing at a lectern in Downing Street accusing some in Brussels of trying deliberately to interfere in the election, to make trouble for her politically at home, and of wanting the Brexit talks to fail.

She just used one of the most powerful microphones in the country for blunt diplomacy indeed.

It's worth pointing out she made careful aim at the EU institutions, rather than the individual leaders, with whom she'll have to deal one on one.

But forget that nuance for a moment - this was quite some statement, quite an accusation to make. It seems the prime minister is intent on playing the Brexit card for all it's worth in the next election.

Read more here.

Kamal Ahmed
Economics editor

Image source, Getty Images

Today the future of the economy moved centre stage in the election battle.

And the fireworks started.

Overnight, the Conservatives claimed that Labour had a £45bn "black hole" in its spending plans.

Its "dossier" says the party has added up the spending commitments made by Labour since 2015, from scrapping the benefits cap to supporting the introduction of 10,000 new police officers.

The Tories say the total cost of these policy commitments is £64.8bn by 2020.

Now, some of those spending pledges are offset by increased taxes, the Conservatives say.

Labour has said it will raise corporation taxes and reverse planned cuts to capital gains tax.

The Tories claim that will raise £14.1bn over the same time period - leaving the "black hole" figure, the gap between their analysis of increased spending and increased revenues under a future Labour government.

Labour has dismissed the document as "misinformation and misrepresentation", saying the Tories have costed policies that Labour is not committed to and failed to give their own commitments on tax and spending.

So how do voters make sense of the row? - the first, I am sure, of many on the economy during this election campaign.

Read more here.

BBC News Channel

The Green Party's co-leader Jonathan Bartley says he thinks Theresa May is not in control of events as she begins to negotiate terms for Brexit and that she is "panicking". 

Mr Bartley said the forthcoming general election would determine the "next 50 years not just the next five years" but that Mrs May was floundering. 

He added that an "honest conversation" was needed to discuss what could prove to be a 100bn euro divorce bill for Brexit  - money which would have to be raised from somewhere, including taxation.

Mr Bartley reiterated his party's call for a "ratification referendum" on the final Brexit deal once it was concluded to give the British people a final say.

The Liberal Democrats have accused Theresa May of "creating a row for her own political ends" by claiming the EU is trying to influence the UK general election.

Leader Tim Farron said the election was "a "chance to change the direction of Britain", with the debate split between Mrs May, UKIP and Labour on one side, and the Liberal Democrats on the other.

They will still be entitled to their basic annual salary and certain expenses, but they have to drop the MP title from their Facebook pages and Twitter handles.

Retired business development manager Malcolm Baker, from Begbroke, near Kidlington, told BBC Oxford he "said what I needed to say" after he confronted Lib Dem leader Tim Farron in the street.

Afterwards Mr Baker, who turned 65 today, said Mr Farron had wised him a happy birthday in a tweet.

He said: "I thought he was fine, I said what I needed to say and I got it off my chest.

“I won’t be voting Lib Dem, I just don’t agree with his negativity. You need to be positive, this is going to happen and we need to go forward."

Image source, Getty Images

Two international banks have confirmed they are planning moves out of London ahead of the UK's exit from the EU.

US bank JP Morgan Chase said it was planning to move "hundreds" of bankers out of London.

And Standard Chartered has said it is in talks with regulators about making Frankfurt its European base.  

Read more here.

BBC News Channel

The SNP's Stephen Gethins, reacting to Theresa May's statement, says the PM "is rapidly losing friends and influence, just when she needs them".

He said he was not sure the best negotiating tactic when you're trying to get a good deal was to attack those with whom you were negotiating.

"If we're going to have a good deal we need ministers who are willing to build relationships with those elsewhere in Europe," he said.

Speaking before Theresa May's statement, Dominic Raab, a former government minister under David Cameron, said that some of the comments being attributed to those close to the negotiations felt like a "rather crude attempt" to put pressure on the UK at the start of the process and during the general election.

"This is really a bit of Brussels gossip and posturing and actually if you look at the UK plans and you compare them with the EU guidelines that have actually been published and agreed by the 27 [remaining EU members] there's large scope of overlap and, yes some issues still to be bridged and to be addressed". But, he felt there was "largely quite a lot of scope for a good deal".