UK PM faces tough questions on Brexit

British Prime Minister Theresa May's future was hanging in the balance yesterday as she prepared for a showdown with angry MPs from her Conservative party following its disastrous performance in last week's election.

May's Conservatives unexpectedly lost their majority in parliament in Thursday's snap vote, causing political chaos ahead of Brexit talks with the European Union set to start next week.

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She was due to face MPs later yesterday, where she could face more demands to quit over her lacklustre campaign and decision to call the election in the first place.

May however has vowed to stay on, and on Sunday unveiled a largely unchanged new cabinet.

The visibly weakened premier denied she was feeling "shell-shocked" after her election gamble backfired.

"What I'm feeling is that actually there is a job to be done and I think what the public want is to ensure that the government is getting on with that job," May said in an interview with Sky News.

Foreign minister Boris Johnson, who was reported by British media to be lining up a leadership bid, insisted May should stay.

"The people of Britain have had a bellyful of promises and politicking," he wrote in The Sun tabloid. "Now is the time for delivery -- and Theresa May is the right person to continue that vital work."

May's party fell eight seats short of retaining its parliamentary majority, and is now in talks with Northern Ireland's ultra-conservative Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) -- which won 10 seats -- to forge an informal alliance.

WALK AWAY WITH NO DEAL

Brexit minister David Davis insisted the government still aimed to take Britain out of the EU single market.

"The reason for leaving the single market is because we want to take back control of our borders, they're not compatible," he told BBC radio.

He also said the government would "walk away" with no deal if talks broke down on ending Britain's four-decade membership of the bloc.

But Ruth Davidson, the pro-EU leader of the Conservatives in Scotland, called on May to "reopen" the government's Brexit plans.

She warned her 13 MPs "will vote entirely as they believe they should" in parliament, raising doubts the government could secure enough votes to pass a deal taking Britain out of the single market.

QUEEN'S SPEECH

The British government will delay by "a few days" the presentation of its programme in parliament following its setback in the general election last week, the BBC reported yesterday.

The pageantry-filled ceremony, officially the State Opening of Parliament but more commonly known as the Queen's Speech, is an outline of the government's policy proposal read by Queen Elizabeth II.

It had been scheduled for June 19 and has been in the queen's diary since April.

A spokesman for British Prime Minister Theresa May refused to confirm the date at a daily briefing, saying only that there would be a statement regarding the Queen's Speech "in due course".

The spokesman added that any update would come from Andrea Leadsom, the government's new representative in the House of Commons.

Conservative leader May lost her parliamentary majority in the election, and ministers have said the government will have to jettison key parts of its manifesto ahead of the Queen's Speech.

The speech is normally followed by days of debate and then a vote on the government's programme, which would in effect be a vote of confidence in the government.

"We are working with the DUP in order to reach a deal that will allow the safe passage of the Queen's Speech," May's spokesman said.

The State Opening involves the queen reading out the government's policy plans from a calfskin parchment in an annual tradition dating back to the Middle Ages.

The monarch is clad in white and usually arrives in a gilded carriage with dozens of horsemen to the sounds of the national anthem, "God Save The Queen".

In a bizarre custom dating back to times of hostility between parliament and monarchy, an MP is "held hostage" at Buckingham Palace until she returns safely.