Theresa May has been warned by Tory MPs she must set out her Brexit plan in greater detail.
The prime minister is due to give a speech on leaving the EU later this month in which she is expected to confirm controlling immigration will be the priority.
Bath MP Ben Howlett told The Guardian: “People want detail. People need detail. If the prime minister does what she did as home secretary and not say much then she’s going to really find it difficult to keep the party with her.”
And leading Remainer Anna Soubry said: “She needs to show she’s prepared to stand up to the hardline, fall-off-a-cliff Brexiteers and say, ‘no, we’re not going to do it your way’”
Many MPs want May to set out whether she wants the UK to remain a member of the single market and customs union.
Brexit secretary David Davis has previously said the government would be willing to pay into the EU budget after Brexit in order to secure access to the single market.
However last night Jonathan Faull, one of Britain’s longest serving EU officials, said buying access was “not something thats on sale”.
The government has said the government will publish its plan before it triggers Article 50 - the formal process of leaving the EU - towards the end of March.
Davis’ Department for Exiting the EU (DExEU) has strongly denied reports that its permanent secretary, Olly Robbins, opposed the appointment of Sir Tim Barrow as the UK’s new ambassador to the EU and sought to downgrade the role so the department could take control of negotiations in Brussels.
It comes after the surprise resignation of Sir Ivan Rogers as ambassador to the EU exposed concerns about the government’s state of readiness for withdrawal negotiations.
May has also been urged today by the House of Lords Speaker not to stuff the upper chamber with Tory peers or threaten it with abolition to ensure her Brexit plans get through Parliament.
The Bank of England has admitted economists are facing a forecasting crisis and labelled warnings of a swift and deep downturn after the EU referendum a “Michael Fish moment”.