Brexit: 'Dreamer' Tusk says UK may yet stay in the EU
European Council President Donald Tusk has quoted lyrics from John Lennon's Imagine to suggest the door remains open to the UK staying in the EU.
Ahead of a Brussels summit he said of that prospect: "You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one."
Theresa May, who has insisted that the UK will honour the referendum vote to leave, will outline her plans for the issue of expats' rights later.
Speaking at the summit she hailed the "constructive" start to Brexit talks.
The summit comes the day after measures to enable Brexit dominated the Queen's Speech. Mrs May's Conservatives are still trying to secure the Commons support needed to pass their programme.
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Mrs May told reporters as she arrived: "I'm very pleased to be here at the European Council today following the constructive start of our negotiations for the United Kingdom to leave the European Union.
"And today I'm going to be setting out some of the UK's plans particularly on how we propose to protect the rights of EU citizens and UK citizens as we leave.
"That's been an important issue. We've wanted it to be one of the early issues to be considered in the negotiations. That is now the case. That work is starting."
She also said she would be raising other important issues, including how European leaders could work together to stop the spread of extremism online and ensure there was no "safe space" online for terrorists.
Brexit negotiations began on Monday.
'Built on dreams'
Speaking before the summit, Mr Tusk said: "It is a most difficult process, for which the EU is well prepared. You can hear different predictions coming from different people about the possible outcome of these negotiations - hard Brexit, soft Brexit or no deal.
"Some of my British friends have even asked me whether Brexit could be reversed and whether I could imagine an outcome where the UK stays part of the EU.
"I told them that, in fact, the European Union was built on dreams that seemed impossible to achieve. So, who knows. You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one."
Chancellor Philip Hammond told BBC Radio 4's Today he wanted an early agreement on the principle of a "transitional" period to reassure business there would not be a "cliff edge" when the UK leaves the EU at the end of March 2019.
This would provide a "smooth path" from "where we are now" to where the UK would end up post-Brexit, he said.
Mr Hammond also denied that a series of controversial Conservative manifesto commitments had been dumped in the wake of the disappointing election result.
He told Today that the manifesto was for a five-year period, but the Queen's Speech programme had been for the first two years, which are dominated by the process of Brexit.
Both the UK and the rest of the EU say they want to come to an arrangement to secure the status of about 3.2 million EU nationals living in the UK, and 900,000 Britons overseas, but nothing has been decided so far.
UK opposition parties have urged the government to make a unilateral guarantee to the EU migrants - but ministers have insisted a reciprocal deal is needed to ensure British expats are protected.
Mrs May will not be present when the leaders of the remaining 27 EU states hold a brief discussion about Brexit after her presentation. They are expected to consider the relocation of the two EU agencies governing medicine and banking which are currently based in London.
Of the 27 bills in the Queen's Speech, eight related to Brexit and its impact on immigration, trade and sectors such as fisheries and farming.
At the centre was the so-called Repeal Bill, which will copy over all EU laws into UK law, with Parliament then deciding which bits to retain.
With MPs voting on the speech next week, the Conservatives are hoping an arrangement with Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party will be in place to support their minority government.
But despite both sides saying they were confident of a deal being agreed, sources suggested to the BBC the DUP were "getting to the limits" of what they were requesting in return for supporting the Tories - with the chances of a plausible long-term deal, rather than a short-term bargain to get the Queen's Speech through, diminishing.
BBC political correspondent Ben Wright said that if the Queen's Speech was approved it was likely to mark the start of a "gruelling often nail-biting period of parliamentary attrition" dominated by Brexit legislation.
As well as clearing the Commons, the legislation will also have to navigate the House of Lords, where the Tories also do not have a majority.
Labour's Lords leader Baroness Smith said the unelected chamber would respect the primacy of the Commons but stressed this did not mean the government, suggesting any amendments backed by MPs could be supported by peers.
Another potential obstacle could emerge if the approval of the Scottish Parliament is needed for the Repeal Bill.
Speaking in the Commons after the Queen's Speech, Mrs May said there was a "possibility" the bill, which is needed to stop EU law applying in the UK, could require Holyrood's consent.
"That is a matter which is currently being considered both here and in Scotland," she said.
At the two-day summit, where the agenda is formally dominated by immigration, security and the economy, Mrs May will also brief her counterparts on the UK's commitment to a new £75m plan designed to stem the flow of illegal migrants from Africa to Europe.
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