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She said it was “frustrating” the two sides could not agree how to guarantee no hard border in Northern Ireland. The issue could not “derail” the chances of striking a deal, she said. And she sought to reassure critics of her approach that the UK would not end up in “permanent limbo” tied to EU customs rules.

In the Commons, Mrs May faced pressure from both sides of the Brexit debate as she gave a statement to MPs.

GPs in England are being given permission to prescribe patients “social” activities, such as dance classes, to tackle loneliness.

The strategy, announced by Prime Minister Theresa May, will also see postal delivery workers checking in on isolated people during their rounds.

The government says about 200,000 older people have not had a conversation with a friend or relative in over a month.

And many GPs see between one and five people a day suffering with loneliness.

High levels of air pollution are linked to an increased risk of mouth cancer, new research has revealed.

Scientists have previously linked high air pollution to a host of health problems, from an increased risk of dementia to asthma and even changes in the structure of the heart, with recent research suggesting there is no “safe level” of air pollution.

The UK’s closest diplomatic allies have “checked the UK into the Priory” recovery clinic, according to a scathing assessment of the declining influence of the UK Foreign Office.

In a damning assessment in Prospect magazine, diplomats speaking on and off the record said the Foreign Office had been left disoriented and demoralised by Brexit and the successive establishment of rival departments including the Department for International Development, the trade department and the Brexit department.

GPs in England will be able to refer people to take part in social activities such as cookery classes, walking clubs and art groups to combat loneliness, the prime minister has said.

Instead of offering medication, doctors will be encouraged to use “social prescribing” to refer lonely patients to activities that could help tackle feelings of isolation.

Thousands of vulnerable survivors of domestic violence in England are being housed in dirty and unsuitable accommodation, including dwellings overrun with mice and mould, holes in the floor and no electricity.

Housing lawyers and charities said a lack of social housing and poor council decisions meant women were increasingly being put in temporary accommodation that was not fit for purpose, putting them at risk of returning to the perpetrators of abuse.

A year has passed since you last confirmed your commitment to the Living Wage movement.

Growing numbers of patients with learning disabilities are being physically restrained in mental health units, despite ministers telling NHS trusts to use such techniques less often.

Staff in NHS mental health hospitals deployed restraint on such patients 22,000 times last year, almost 50% more than the 15,000 occasions in 2016, BBC research has found.

Social care workers are cutting short visits to frail elderly people, or working unpaid overtime to keep up with huge workloads, a new report finds.

Some are paid as little as £5 an hour for helping Britain’s growing number of older people to live at home – assisting with eating, taking medication and getting out of bed. One in three earns less than the national minimum wage or national living wage because they are not paid for time spent travelling between clients.

A new super-database being built for the police represents a “grave” risk to privacy, a leading human rights group has said.

Liberty claims the government is glossing over concerns that the database, the largest built for British law enforcement, threatens civil liberties. The group fears it gives massive power to the state at the expense of millions of Britons.