Theresa May’s warning to Angela Merkel and Cabinet over preparations to leave the EU

THERESA May will today warn Angela Merkel to be patient as Britain’s preparations for Brexit will “take some time”.

The new PM makes her first foreign trip today to have dinner with Germany’s boss in Berlin.

She will also try to begin informal talks with the Chancellor on our EU pull out despite a strict ban on them from Brussels.

Issuing the plea for patience, Mrs May said last night: “I do not under-estimate the challenge of negotiating our exit from the European Union.

“I firmly believe that being able to talk frankly and openly about the issues we face will be an important part of a successful negotiation.”>

In a phone call with her last night, EU Council boss Donald Tusk told Mrs May Brexit should be a “velvet divorce” that is calm and orderly.

The new Premier held a first meeting of her new Cabinet yesterday and ordered them to “get on with the job” of making Brexit work for all Brits.

Mrs May also heralded an end to the age of spin, in a thinly veiled dig at Tony Blair and David Cameron’s presentation politics.

She told her 28-strong top table: “Politics is not a game. The decisions we take around this table affect people’s day to day lives”.

Pledging they will be known not just for taking Britain out of the EU, she added: “We won’t be a government defined just by Brexit. We will also be a government defined by social reform that we undertake”.

No10 also revealed Mrs May has already stamped her personal authority on the government’s most important business.

She has set up three new Cabinet committees - on Brexit, the economy and social reform – and taken the rare move of deciding to chair them all.

Mrs May saw the Queen again yesterday to swear an oath to serve as First Lord of the Treasury, which is the PM’s official title.

The traditional ceremony during a Privy Council meeting completed the appointment of the new government.