Britain, EU in suspense

British Prime Minister Theresa May's Conservative party resumed talks on a deal to prop up her minority government yesterday as she faced a battle over her Brexit strategy just days before EU divorce talks are due to begin.

As Britain entered a sixth day of political turmoil, May's team continued talks with Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) to secure their support in parliament after May failed to win a majority in Thursday's election.

But a deadly fire at a tower block in London delayed the announcement of any deal.

"The talks are continuing but I think the events in London today probably will have some impact on that. I think it's unlikely there will be any announcement today," a DUP spokesman told AFP.

Media reports suggested an agreement could be delayed into next week, but the spokesman said: "I certainly have heard nothing on this side to indicate that."

Following more than an hour of talks between May and DUP leader Arlene Foster on Tuesday, May said the discussion had been productive and Foster said she hoped a deal could be done "sooner rather than later".

Despite the uncertainty over her ability to govern, May had confirmed that Brexit negotiations - expected to be the most complex international talks Britain has held for decades - would begin as planned next week.

"There is a unity of purpose among people in the United Kingdom," May said following a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris.

"It's a unity of purpose, having voted to leave the EU, that their government gets on with that and makes a success of it."

Macron said the door was "always open" for Britain to remain in the EU as long as the negotiations on Brexit have not finished.