Theresa May with Jean-Claude Juncker, president of the European Commission. She wants to circumvent him to jump-start Britain’s trade negotiations with the EU

Theresa May is preparing to go over the heads of Jean-Claude Juncker and Michel Barnier and appeal to Europe’s leaders to approve the start of trade talks with the EU this autumn.

With negotiations at an impasse over Britain’s refusal to sign up to a method of calculating the so-called divorce bill Mrs May intends to use October’s European summit to make her case directly for moving the talks on.

The prime minister may also approach other leaders individually before the summit.

Mr Juncker, president of the European Commission, has said it is “crystal clear” that an “enormous amount” of issues need to be settled before talks on a future trade deal or transition arrangements can begin. Under the negotiating mandate for the Brexit talks