£50billion, you must be having a laugh! Theresa May guffaws as she shows Europe's Brexit negotiators out of the door at Downing Street

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Theresa May shared a joke with the EU chief of staff after telling the chief Brexit negotiator that Britain wants a 'deep and special partnership' during their first face-to-face meeting.  

The Prime Minister met with Michel Barnier and European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker at a working dinner in Downing Street tonight.

After the dinner, she was caught throwing her head back and laughing at a joke made in the Number 10 corridor, but Martin Selmayr, head of cabinet for President Juncker.  

The PM tonight greets European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker outside No 10

The two politicians shared a kiss on the cheek as they greeted each other warmly ahead of tonight's working dinner. They will discuss the Brexit negotiations

Prime Minister May told the pair at dinner that Britain is committed 'to achieving a deep and special partnership with the European Union'. 

'The PM had a constructive meeting this evening with President Juncker of the European Commission,' the spokesperson said in a statement.

'Following the UK's letter of notification under Article 50 (that it is exiting the EU), she reiterated the UK's commitment to achieving a deep and special partnership with the European Union.' 

The meeting was seen as a sign the Prime Minister is determined to personally steer through Brexit after promising Britons she will deliver on the historic referendum vote.

Mrs May greeted Mr Juncker, who was the first to arrive, with a kiss on the cheek as she welcomed him outside No 10.

Their meeting comes as Britain gears up for the snap General Election on June 8.

European Union's chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, centre right, arrives to meet Theresa May in person for the first time

Mrs May said she called the vote to see off remoaners in Parliament determined to kill off Brexit, and to strengthen her negotiating hand in Europe.

She is likely to clash with Mr Barnier, who has warned that the UK must 'settle the accounts' amid threats that Brussels could demand £50bn exit fee from Britain.

The meeting comes after David Davis insisted the work to deliver Brexit is still continuing despite the election battle getting underway. 

Brexit Secretary Mr Davis has himself been on the road again this week to meet allies and set the groundwork for the official talks to come.

The EU will formally agree its negotiating position on Saturday and the first round of negotiations is likely soon after the June 8 election.

Mrs May stunned Westminster by announcing last week she wanted an election to ensure she has a strong hand when those talks begin.

Speaking in London today Mr Davis said 'even as the election campaign proceeds, the work of Government goes on to prepare for the negotiations'.

He repeated warnings that compromise will be needed on both sides.

The meeting is a sign that Theresa May is stamping her personal leadership on the negotiations after promising Britons she will deliver on the historic vote. Right, Mr Barnier arrives in Downing St

David Davis (pictured at his speech today) insisted the work to deliver Brexit is still in progress despite the election battle getting underway

But addressing the Prosperity UK conference, the Brexit Secretary said: 'The UK has a very good reason to feel optimistic.

'The discussions I have had confirmed to me that on both sides, negotiations with our European partners will be conducted in a spirit of sincere cooperation. It is a spirit we have shared through our common history.

Theresa May  (pictured leaving No 10 today) stunned Westminster by announcing last week she wanted an election to ensure she has a strong hand when those talks begin

'Indeed, one of my key messages on my visits to the four countries over the past couple of days, and more than a dozen over a longer period, is that the UK wants to see the European Union succeed and prosper, politically, socially and economically. 

'And when it comes to it, our European partners know — even those that were most dismayed by our departure after the UK referendum result — that it will be in their interests for the UK to do the same.' 

Mr Davis said he was confident of a 'very early' deal on the Irish border and reciprocal rights for EU nationals in Britain and UK citizens on the continent.

He said he was 'optimistic' about the opportunities for the future and added: 'The Government will do its best to ensure that those opportunities are available to everybody.

'But before I was a politician I was a businessman and I am acutely conscious that, whilst the Government can facilitate the opportunities, what converts the opportunities into innovation, investment, jobs, wealth creation, is civil society and business, not government.' 

UK will be bound by human rights laws for another five years as Theresa May drops pledge to pull out of European convention

Theresa May is to drop a pledge to pull the UK out of the European Convention on Human Rights. 

The Prime Minister said she wanted to leave the convention while she was Home Secretary, saying it frustrated her plans to deport hate preacher Abu Qatada.

But in her new role at Number 10, she is expected to drop the pledge from the new Conservative manifesto, deeming it a distraction to Brexit negotiations.

The Telegraph reports this would leave Britain tied to the convention for another five years, until 2022.

At the end of December last year, the Prime Minister said she would be committed to pulling out of the ECHR, laying out plans for a 2020 manifesto.

But earlier this week, liberal Conservatives were reportedly concerned she would see the election as an opportunity to get a mandate to pull out as well as strengthening her Brexit plans.

According to the Guardian, former attorney general Dominic Grieve, former culture secretary Maria Miller and former environment secretary Caroline Spelman, all back plans to remain in the ECHR.

The ECHR exists entirely separately from the European Union, and so Mrs May's mandate on Brexit does not necessarily equate to one to pull the UK out of the convention.

As Home Secretary, Mrs May said the ECHR frustrated her plans to deport radical preacher Abu Qatada, above. The ECHR ruled he could not return to Jordan as he may be tried on evidence obtained by torture

It offers rights and freedoms to European citizens, including rights to a fair trial, privacy, expression and freedom of thought.

As Justice Secretary as far back as 2014, Chris Grayling said a future Conservative government would consider leaving the ECHR.

In 2012, the ECHR ruled the UK could not deport Qatada, on the basis that returning him to Jordan meant he may be tried based on evidence obtained through torture.

In the 2015 Conservative manifesto, the party stated: 'The European Court of Human Rights has developed ‘mission creep’. Strasbourg adopts a principle of interpretation that regards the Convention as a ‘living instrument’. 

'Even allowing for necessary changes over the decades, the ECtHR has used its ‘living instrument doctrine’ to expand Convention rights into new areas, and certainly beyond what the framers of the Convention had in mind when they signed up to it.'

It pledged reforms to reduce the role of the ECHR in Britain to an 'advisory body', without the ability to change UK law.

The leak comes as Mrs May hosted President Jean-Claude Juncker and the EU's chief Brexit negotiator for a working dinner at Number 10.

It was the first time the Prime Minister had met Michel Barnier face-to-face. A spokesman for the Prime Minister said she had told the pair she wanted a 'deep and special relationship' between the EU and Britain after Brexit.

'The PM had a constructive meeting this evening with President Juncker of the European Commission,' the spokesperson said in a statement.

'Following the UK's letter of notification under Article 50 (that it is exiting the EU), she reiterated the UK's commitment to achieving a deep and special partnership with the European Union.'

The meeting was seen as a sign the Prime Minister is determined to personally steer through Brexit after promising Britons she will deliver on the historic referendum vote.