
Spain’s Foreign Minister, Alfonso Dastis, has told a leading German newspaper that Madrid will not be taking “any type of punitive measures” at the border with Gibraltar after Brexit. Dastis has made similar statements in recent days to Spanish media, but his comments to Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung are the first time he has spoken about the border to the international media.

London’s powerhouse financial sector finds itself at a critical juncture with Article 50 about to be triggered, as the Square Mile braces itself for a jobs exodus and the potential loss of European trading rights following Brexit. City bosses and politicians have called on the UK Government to secure a transitional deal for the industry to prevent companies pre-empting uncertainty by upping sticks to rival financial centres across the globe.

The head of UK opposition and Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said Prime Minister Theresa May’s plans for Brexit were potentially “reckless and damaging”.

In a press conference in Brussels, following the hand-delivered letter, EC president Donald Tusk sent a message to the UK: “We already miss you. Thank you and goodbye.”

Prime Minister Theresa May has kicked off the two-year process of Britain’s withdrawal from the European Union in what she said was “an historic moment from which there can be no turning back”. Minutes after a letter informing the European Council of the UK’s intention to leave, Mrs May told the House of Commons that the Government was acting on “the democratic will of the British people” expressed in last year’s referendum vote for Brexit.

Prime Minister Theresa May on Tuesday signed the historic letter that will launch Brexit when it is delivered to Brussels on Wednesday, a photo released by her office showed. Sitting in front of a lone Union Jack national flag and a portrait of Britain’s first prime minister, Robert Walpole, a serene-looking May signed the letter to begin the country’s departure from the European Union.

Prime Minister Theresa May will meet Nicola Sturgeon in Scotland later on Monday for the first time since the SNP announced their proposals for a second independence referendum. At the beginning of a week that will see Article 50 triggered on Wednesday, the PM will say she wants to build a more united nation.

The UK is handing control of Europe's destiny to Germany by leaving the EU, Lord Heseltine has claimed. The Tory peer, sacked as a government adviser after defying the whip over Brexit, said the Germans had lost World War Two but the UK was now giving them the “opportunity to win the peace”.

Spain will support a Brexit deal that allows British expatriates to remain on the Costas with their benefits intact, including access to healthcare, it was reported. According to The Times, Madrid would “in principle” favour an agreement that would allow Britons living in Spain and other parts of the EU to retain existing rights.

Goldman Sachs will move jobs away from London and bulk up its European presence by “hundreds of people”, a senior executive has said. The US bank's European chief executive, Richard Gnodde, said it would begin the process before the UK leaves the European Union.