LATER today, Britain is due to begin the formal process of negotiating its withdrawal from the European Union.

David Davis, the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, is due to attend the EU’s administrative centre in Brussels for the start of talks that will shape the country’s political destiny for decades to come.

This is not how Theresa May would have envisaged heading into the negotiations when she called this month’s snap General Election, with the Conservatives still tying up the finer details of an agreement with the DUP that will enable them to form a functioning government.

But for all that the election did not go to plan for the Prime Minister, it is in everyone’s best interests for the talks with the EU to be as successful as possible.

The terms of Britain’s withdrawal will become clearer as time passes, with the Government’s previous desire for a ‘Hard Brexit’ likely to have been softened in the wake of the election result.

Rather than negotiating from a position of strength, bolstered by a thumping majority, Mrs May finds herself leading a Government that the remaining 27 EU states will regard as weak and vulnerable.

The country remains divided in the wake of the Brexit vote, but no matter how you voted in last year’s referendum, one thing is clear. Britain is leaving the EU, and with the clock now ticking, it is time for our politicians to do everything they can to ensure the terms of our departure are as favourable as possible.

That will not be easy, and some difficult decisions lie ahead. For now, though, we wish Mrs May and her team well as they look to turn Brexit into a reality.