Theresa May urged to bolster plan for 'no deal' Brexit

Theresa May is being urged to urgently step up preparations for a "no deal" Brexit in order to increase the UK's leverage in negotiations with Brussels.

In a letter to the Prime Minister ahead of her attendance at a summit of European leaders on Thursday, a coalition of more than 60 MPs, peers, economists, lawyers and academics call on Mrs May to  "issue instructions to UK authorities to accelerate their preparations for 'no deal' and a move to a world trade deal."

The group, including former former cabinet ministers, Sir David Ord, the co-owner of Bristol Port and a prominent Conservative donor, and Sir Rocco Forte, the hotelier who helped bankroll the Leave campaign, also urge the Prime Minister to make clear that EU negotiators "will not succeed" in either "delaying or blocking Brexit".

Whitehall sources insist "there is a lot of preparation going on" behind the scenes. But the group state:  "In light of the reluctance of the EU swiftly to secure a free trade deal – eminently possible since we have been trading freely with the EU for more than 40 years – we suggest you make clear your belief that the UK has now to prepare urgently for the possibility that no agreement is forthcoming."

The letter, organised by the pro-Brexit Economists for Free Trade group, warns that the economic gains of the country's departure from the EU "will only be realised if we make a clean break ..."

On Saturday more than 100,000 people joined a central London rally in support of a referendum on the terms of a deal with Brussels, according to estimates by campaigners.

In an interview on Sunday's Sophy Ridge on Sunday programme, Liam Fox, the International Trade Secretary, states that he would not oppose the transition period being extended by "a few extra months" if an agreement for a future partnership kept the UK outside of the single market, customs union and European Court of Justice.