Simon Fraser (right), with then-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Philip Hammond. has told BBC Radio 4 that Brexit negotiations aren't going well for the U.K. | Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images Brexit negotiations are not going well, says former top UK diplomat ‘I don’t think they have begun particularly promisingly, frankly, on the British side,’ says Simon Fraser.

A former senior British diplomat said the U.K.'s Brexit negotiations have not begun well because of "differences" inside Prime Minister Theresa May's cabinet.

Speaking on the BBC Radio 4's Westminster Hour, Simon Fraser, who led the Foreign Office and Diplomatic Service from 2010 to 2015, expressed concern over the disunion in May's cabinet and lack of clarity over the U.K.'s position on several key issues.

"The negotiations have only just begun, I don't think they have begun particularly promisingly, frankly, on the British side," said Fraser.

"We haven't put forward a lot because, as we know, there are differences within the cabinet about the sort of Brexit that we are heading for and until those differences are further resolved I think it's very difficult for us to have a clear position."

The rights of EU citizens in the U.K., the Irish border and the so-called divorce bill have all become major sticking points in the U.K.'s Brexit negotiations with the EU.

Fraser, who now consults businesses on Brexit at Flint Global and serves as an adviser at the think tank Chatham House, cautioned that the U.K. has done too little to address these concerns.

"I think so far we haven't put much on the table apart from something on the status of nationals, so we are a bit absent from the formal negotiation," he said.

"I think we need to demonstrate that we are ready to engage on the substance so that people can understand what is really at stake here and what the options are."

The Telegraph reported the U.K. was willing to pay a €40 billion Brexit divorce bill, but Downing Street denied the reports.

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