British finance minister Philip Hammond said Britain should adopt a pragmatic approach to Brexit negotiations which begin on Monday, striking a different tone to Prime Minister Theresa May who has threatened to leave the European Union without a deal if necessary.
"We will build the broadest possible consensus for our Brexit plans and that means giving parliament the maximum amount of time to scrutinise these bills by holding a two-year session of parliament", the government said in a statement.
"As we enter negotiations next week we will do so in a spirit of honest cooperation taking a pragmatic approach to trying to find a solution that works both for the United Kingdom and European Union 27".
"We haven't negotiated, we haven't progressed".
The EU says Britain must honour its contributions to the bloc's budget, which has already been agreed up to 2020, as well as commitments to development programmes for poorer member states.
Her Conservative Party called such an arrangement "necessary" in its election manifesto.
In Luxembourg, Britain's finance minister said that protecting jobs and the economy should be the main focus in upcoming discussions.
Nearly a year after Britain voted to leave its biggest market, the talks come amid signs the U.K.is softening its approach to the split and adopting a more conciliatory tone.
Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson, who is newly influential after winning a crucial 13 seats in Scotland, has said Britain should prioritise "freedom to trade and our economic growth".
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But a greater proportion think there should be a change of direction, including 23 per cent who want to look for a "softer" Brexit during the talks, due to start next week.
But May's attempt to increase her majority in parliament were dashed and has weakened the government's negotiating position, with many arguing that May will have to take a softer stance and potentially seek some sort of access to the EU's single market.
"That has always been our first aim and that is what we will do", the spokesman said.
"It will take us several months to draw out the conditions of an orderly withdrawal.so let's not waste time", he said.
Despite the uncertainty over her ability to govern, May had confirmed that Brexit negotiations - expected to be the most complex global talks Britain has held for decades - would begin as planned next week.
Philip Hammond, Britain's finance minister, says protecting the British economy should be the main goal of upcoming negotiations over the country's exit from the European Union.
While she is ultimately expected to reach a deal, a source in the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) told Reuters that an agreement to support her minority government was not likely before next week.
Barnier this week acknowledged "sensitivity" in London at European Union suggestions that Britain might owe it some 60 billion euros in 2019 and said sorting out the issue soon would help a trade deal: "I would like to very quickly play down this question, and find concrete, pragmatic and just solutions", he said on Monday.
A senior Brussels official said the amount, which compares to London's annual net European Union payment of around 10 billion euros, would still be "peanuts" in terms of the overall economy and also that the final bill would be determined less by technical and legal arguments than by hard-headed political horse-trading.
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