London: Embattled British prime minister Theresa May has called for a "spirit of national unity" – but still lacks the vital Northern Irish votes she needs to save her government.
On Tuesday former Tory prime minister John Major staged a dramatic intervention in Britain's messy post-election politics, warning that May's proposed 'confidence and supply' agreement with Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party could endanger the Irish peace process by creating a sense of grievance among republicans.
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'Let us come together': Theresa May
British Prime Minister Theresa May calls for unity as parliament is reconvened for the first time since last week's general election.
"People shouldn't regard [the peace process] as a given. It's not certain, it is under stress, it is fragile," Sir John said.
"We should take care that everything we do does not exaggerate the underlying differences that are still there in the Northern Ireland community."
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May and DUP leader Arlene Foster met for just over an hour at 10 Downing Street after lunch on Tuesday, but Foster left by the back door without any announcement.
She later tweeted that "discussions are going well and we hope soon to be able to bring this work to a successful conclusion".
According to one media report, the DUP was likely asking for an extra £1 billion ($1.68 billion) of infrastructure investment for Northern Ireland, as well as reduced company tax rates, in exchange for its support for May's government.
But Major said extra funding would be seen as "cash for votes", and would antagonise Wales, Scotland, and parts of England that were already suffering from a lack of government investment.
Another former prime minister, David Cameron, said there would now be pressure for a "softer Brexit" - which is usually code for staying within the common market and/or customs union.
The latter would preclude Britain striking a free trade deal with Australia, as is currently being planned.
According to The Financial Times, Cameron also reminded a business conference in Poland that there was a "new player on the stage" - the Scottish Conservatives, whose leader Ruth Davidson has expressed a preference for an "open Brexit". He said the government would need to "talk more widely, listen to other parties" on Brexit.
British government sources briefed journalists that only minor details remained to be settled with the DUP, and the deal was as good as done – though one DUP member of parliament told Sky News that they were much further from agreement, and there might be no deal until the weekend.
This could put the already-delayed Queen's speech, in which the government is supposed to set out its agenda, back another week.
May then had to face the first meeting of the new House of Commons as the head of a minority government.
It was a brief, formal sitting of the house whose only business was to re-elect Conservative John Bercow as the speaker and congratulate the new 'father of the house' Kenneth Clarke.
But it was a revealing rehearsal for the resumption of hostilities in the now-hung parliament.
While May was greeted by near-silence from her fellow MPs, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn entered the house to a standing ovation from his colleagues.
Corbyn said he and May could agree that "democracy is a wondrous thing that throws up some very unexpected results".
He taunted May with her own election slogans, saying "I'm sure we all look forward to welcoming a Queen's speech just as soon as a coalition of chaos has been negotiated … [and] if that is not possible Labour stands ready to offer strong and stable leadership".
He added: "We look forward to this parliament, however short it may be", referring to speculation that the government would have to call an election long before its five-year term is up.
Mrs May made a short statement saying all MPs wanted a stronger, safe, secure nation and "shared values must bring us together in a spirit of national unity".
Labour is likely to make its move on the Conservatives as soon as they try to put forward a Queen's speech, British political scientist Philip Cowley told Fairfax on Tuesday.
Rather than attempt to trigger an election through a vote of no confidence – which they would lose if the Conservative-DUP alliance holds – Labour could try to amend the Queen's Speech with policies that could appeal to the majority of MPs, Professor Cowley, from Queen Mary University of London said.
"I suspect that if Labour thought it could get a second election, it would go for one," he said.
A post-election poll published on Sunday suggested Labour would win a majority if an election were to be called straight away.
"But they know they won't get (an election)," Professor Cowley said. "So their tactics will be more about embarrassing the government – highlighting issues with the DUP and Northern Ireland, for example."
On Tuesday Sinn Fein's seven elected MPs set up their new office in London, from where they will lobby politicians without taking up their seats in parliament.
At a briefing for journalists, the Sinn Fein MPs insisted they would stick to their commitment to abstain from the parliament, and were committed to re-establishing power-sharing devolved government in Belfast.
Sinn Fein MP Michelle Gildernew said the British government could not now be seen as an 'honest broker' in the negotiations between her party and the DUP.
The proposed confidence and supply deal was causing "a lot of anxiety and a lot of fear" among republicans, she said.
And Sinn Fein warned that any Westminster deal would have to be acceptable to their side of politics, as it would be administered by the shared government once that was re-established in Stormont.
Meanwhile, the UK has just one week until Brexit negotiations are supposed to begin.
According to reports, British diplomats asked the EU if they could start technical talks led by civil servants while the new government settled in.
But the EU's chief negotiator Michel Barnier said they would not talk to a British counterpart unless they had a clear mandate from the new government.
May ended the day in France, where she had a pre-planned meeting with new president Emmanuel Macron.
She said she had confirmed to him that the "timetable for Brexit negotiations remains on course and will begin next week".
Macron said France desired negotiations to begin as soon as possible.
He also echoed comments made earlier in the day by German finance minister Wolfgang Schauble, that Britain could still choose to stay in the EU if it wanted.
"The door is always open of course," Macron said, though he acknowledged that given the result of last year's referendum it would not be easy for the UK to change course.