Farage: PM '˜not committed' to Brexit

The response was aimed at the former Ukip leader Nigel Farage, after he hit out at Theresa May’s decision not to trigger Article 50 before the end of 2016.

In an interview with ITV’s Good Morning Britain, the MEP claimed that by postponing negotiations Mrs May has left herself open to delays and indicated she is not “really committed” to Brexit.

But the criticism was quickly dismissed by Downing Street, with spokesmen pointing out Mrs May has created two new departments since taking office “to help make [Brexit] a success”.

The exchange comes amid criticism of a report by the pro-leave campaign group Change Britain that claimed leaving the European Customs Union could create thousands of new jobs. The analysis, which was based on calculations by the European Commission, suggested new free trade deals with countries which have already indicated an interest in signing an agreement could create between 240,000-400,000 positions.

However, pro-European campaigners have argued that the figures are based on EU trade deals that Britain will not be part of. Labour MP and Open Britain supporter Phil Wilson said that negotiating alone “the UK would be unable to negotiate trade deals of comparable depth to the EU”.

“The EU helps increase the UK’s global trade links, giving our economy access to over 50 other global markets,” he stated.

“We should be looking at ways to protect these benefits, not sacrificing them on the basis of made-up, misleading numbers by anti-EU ideologues.”

In his interview with ITV, Mr Farage claimed he was “worried” that six months after Britain voted to leave the EU ministers have done “nothing.

“I’m concerned that we have a Government that is not really committed to carrying out the will of the people,” he said.

He also suggested Mrs May’s “indecision” in triggering Article 50 has put the UK “on the back foot” in negotiations – and called for “clearer, firmer leadership”.

“We are now waiting for a Supreme Court judgment in a couple of weeks time. If she had triggered Article 50, there would have been no court case. We would have been up and running and the process would have started,” he said.

“Her indecision is putting us on the back foot... Over 20 countries have approached us since the referendum, saying ‘can we do a trade deal?’. At the moment, we’ve started formal discussions with not one of them.”

Responding, Mrs May’s spokeswoman said: “On taking office the PM established two new departments ... to help make a success of Brexit.

“DExEU (Department for Exiting the EU) ministers met with more than 130 companies from every sector of the British economy since July [and] hosted round tables with different sectors.

“And the Secretary of State for International Trade has had many fruitful discussions with countries around the world about how we can strengthen our trading relationship with them.”

She went on to confirm that Mrs May still intends to give a speech in the coming weeks, in which she is expected to set out further details of her Brexit plans. Asked about the Prime Minister’s stance on the Customs Union, she said Mrs May’s focus is on getting “the best deal” for the United Kingdom.