Theresa May says she will work with "humility and resolve" every day to win trust of British people

While UK Government sources were continuing to express “confidence” a deal with the DUP would be done, insiders in the Northern Irish party cautioned that an agreement was "certainly not imminent".

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One party source said the talks with Mrs May's Conservatives "haven't proceeded in a way that the DUP would have expected" and stressed that the party "can't be taken for granted".

To get her programme through – with key Commons votes on the Queen’s Speech measures set for the end of next week – the PM needs a deal with the DUP’s 10 MPs, whose support would secure the Tories a small working majority going forward.

It has been mooted that the DUP’s demands include restricting foreign donations to Northern Irish parties, which would hit US cash gifts to Sinn Fein, and creating a greater appreciation of Britishness in Northern Ireland with even suggestions of an armed forces day in the region.

After coming under severe criticism for her lack of empathy with voters during the General Election campaign and with the victims of the Grenfell Tower fire tragedy, the PM offered a contrite approach, saying: “The election result was not the one I hoped for but this Government will respond with humility and resolve to the message the electorate sent. We will work hard every day to gain the trust and confidence of the British people, making their priorities our priorities.”

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Labour, the SNP and the Liberal Democrats all called on Mrs May to use the Queen’s Speech to change course, to end austerity and soften her approach to Brexit, but the PM made clear that under her government the country would continue to live within its means and that she would honour the result of the 2016 EU referendum.

“While this will be a Government that consults and listens, we are clear that we are going to see Brexit through, working with Parliament, business, the devolved administrations and others to ensure a smooth and orderly withdrawal,” she declared.

With speculation continuing to swill around Westminster that the PM’s time in office could now be a matter of weeks or, at best, months, the focus will be as much on what has been left out of the UK Government’s set-piece statement than what has been put in following the Conservatives’ unexpectedly poor performance at the General Election.

It is thought that the Tories’ plan for social care, including the so-called “dementia tax” will be scrapped in its current form as will the plan to means-test winter fuel allowance south of the border. Also expected to go are proposals to abandon the triple lock on state pensions, the axing of free meals in England’s schools and a free vote on foxhunting.

In the last two years the number of bills in the Queen’s Speech has been 25 and 21 respectively but this time round the number is due to be much lower.

While Brexit legislation such as the Great Repeal Bill, albeit introduced under a different name, will be the centrepiece other measures are set to include plans for:

*extra spending on schools in England;

*phase two of high-speed rail;

*reducing road traffic personal injury claims;

*parity of esteem for mental health;

*investment in commercial space flights;

*helping consumers make better financial investments and

*better security against extremism and terrorism.

Ahead of today’s set-piece event, Mrs May noted how, at the election, over 80 per cent of the electorate backed the two major parties, both of which campaigned on manifestos that said “we should honour the democratic decision of the British people” in the EU vote.

“While this will be a Government that consults and listens, we are clear that we are going to see Brexit through, working with Parliament, business, the devolved administrations and others to ensure a smooth and orderly withdrawal.”

She added that her government was one “with purpose,” which was determined to deliver the best Brexit deal, to create a stronger economy and fairer society, committed to keeping the country safe and “bringing our United Kingdom closer together”.

But Kezia Dugdale, the Scottish Labour leader, urged the PM to use the Queen’s Speech to abandon austerity, reverse cuts to social security, and invest in public services in Scotland and throughout the UK.

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Speaking at Westminster, she called for another snap election to oust the Tories from power.

“We've had five electoral contests in Scotland in the last two-and-a-half years; why not have a sixth, if it means getting the Tories out of office,” she declared.

Ian Blackford, the new SNP leader, also called for an end to austerity and a soft Brexit by committing to stay in the single market.

‘’The Tories’ election disaster shows they have no mandate for a hard Brexit and yet it looks like they are going to be the bogged down in their own Brexit mess,” said the Highland MP.

Tim Farron for the Liberal Democrats made clear his party planned to table an amendment to the Queen's Speech that would call for membership of the single market and the customs union to be protected in the Brexit negotiations.

“This is a government with no clue, no direction and no mandate,” he claimed.

The party leader added that the Conservatives “instead of tearing up our membership of the single market and the customs union with all the consequences that will have for the economy, jobs and prices in the shops, they should be trying to bring the country together”.