Theresa May has indicated she will fight a proposal to give residency rights to EU citizens during the transition period after Brexit.

She said there had to be a difference between those arriving after the UK leaves and those who came before.

She also sought to reassure Tory MPs worried about the length of transition.

The European Parliament's Brexit lead, Guy Verhofstadt, responded by telling The Guardian: "Citizens' rights during the transition is not negotiable."

He said that "for the transition to work" there could not be "two sets of rights for EU citizens".

And Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said he opposed the PM's move, which he said would make it "harder for all of us" if it made it harder for EU nationals to come and work in the NHS.

Asked whether he believed he thought Mrs May had bowed to pressure from Brexiteers, the UK opposition leader said "I think Theresa May is probably looking behind herself all the time.

"What she needs to be concentrating on is protecting jobs and ensuring we have good, tariff-free relations with Europe in the future."

Earlier this week, the EU set out what it was prepared to offer the UK, saying it expected the transition to last from the day of the UK's departure on 29 March 2019 to 31 December 2020.

The transition period - also referred to as an implementation period - is seen as a way to minimise disruption when the UK leaves the EU for things like business, holidaymakers and security.

Some Brexit-supporting MPs are worried that this period could be extended, but speaking during her trade trip to China, Mrs May insisted such an "implementation period" would last about two years.

"We are not talking about something that is going to go on and on... we're leaving the European Union. There is an adjustment period for businesses - and indeed government - for changes that need to be made," she said.