Liam Fox: Any Brexit transition should end by 2022

A senior Cabinet minister has said it is "not a huge deal" if a transition period before Brexit takes full effect lasts up until 2022.

International Trade Secretary Liam Fox has previously said he would be happy with an implementation period that lasted a "few months", but said earlier this week that "a couple of years" might be "common sense".

In an interview on Sunday he extended that timeframe, saying any transition should be wrapped up by the next scheduled General Election in 2022.

Dr Fox said the time it takes for Brexit to take effect was "not a huge deal", but he believed people did not want it "dragging on".

He told the BBC's Andrew Marr Show: "Having waited for over 40 years to leave the European Union, 24 months would be a rounding error. It's not a huge deal and neither is it an ideological one.

"I think we would want to get it out of the way before the election, I don't think people would want to have it dragging on."

Environment Secretary Michael Gove has said the Cabinet was "united" around a transitional deal to allow continued access to migrant labour and provide certainty for businesses.

Meanwhile, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has been accused of "parroting lies" after he said the UK must quit the single market because it is leaving the EU.

Mr Corbyn said he did not yet have a clear position on whether Britain should stay in the customs union, but the UK cannot remain a part of the single market as it is "inextricably linked" with EU membership.

But one of his own MPs, Chuka Umunna, pointed out there are a number of countries outside the EU that are part of the trading area.

Mr Umunna, who led a rebellion against the party leadership over its stance on the single market, said most Labour Party members wanted Britain to stay in it.

Meanwhile, the Liberal Democrats have accused Mr Corbyn of repeating lies used by Brexiteers - and claimed Labour MPs are being "intimidated" into following the party line on Europe.

Lib Dem leader Sir Vince Cable told Sky News he had been in talks with members of the shadow cabinet and Conservative backbenchers over the fight against Brexit and said Labour MPs were being "intimidated" and told to "toe the line or else".

The party's Brexit spokesman Tom Brake said: "Jeremy Corbyn's failure to stand up for the single market is a betrayal of future generations who will suffer most from an extreme Brexit.

"He is parroting the lie used by leading Brexiteers that membership of the single market is the same as staying in the EU."