Tories risk reputation as party of business over handling of Brexit, poll finds

The Conservatives risk damaging their reputation as the party of business over their handling of Brexit, a new poll has found.

A survey of more than 1,000 business figures by the anti-Brexit People's Vote campaign found that two-thirds – 66 per cent - believe the Tories are traditionally the party that boosts prosperity and help businesses, with just 24 per cent disagreeing.

But the figures were reversed when it came to Brexit - with just 26 per cent of those surveyed saying the party is now pursuing business-friendly policies and 57 per cent disagreeing.

Tory MP Dominic Grieve, a former Cabinet minister and leading Brexit opponent, said the poll should be a "wake-up call" to his party.

"This poll highlights the extent that the Conservative Party is jeopardising its reputation for economic competence with the business community as a result of the way Brexit has unfolded," he said.

The former attorney general added: “This should be a wake-up call because our party is risking everything for which we have always stood.

"Those sections of the party which are guided by the ideology of Brexit have only served to damage the ability of the Government to get any positive outcome from these negotiations."

The survey - carried out by pollster YouGov earlier this month - is particularly alarming for the Tories because 41 per cent of those who took part said they voted for Brexit in 2016, with just 38 per cent saying they voted to remain in the EU. And it comes just days after a serving minister said the Conservatives had "lost our way" as the party of business.

The warning came as prominent Brexiteer Cabinet minister Michael Gove dropped his clearest public hint yet that he could support a change of course by the Prime Minister, who has faced strong opposition to her Chequers Brexit proposals.

In an interview with the Mail on Sunday, Gove suggested he could support a Canada-style free trade deal as an alternative to May's plan.

His colleague Jeremy Hunt, the foreign secretary, raised eyebrows last week when he refused to rule out the Canada option - modelled on the EU's existing CETA trade deal with Canada - saying that he was "not dismissing anything".

Asked whether he agreed with that stance, Gove said: "Jeremy is one of the most naturally considerate, thoughtful and polite people in politics.

"I’m sure he would have considered his comments carefully and they would therefore have merit and should be listened to."

But the chief of the CBI business lobby group, Carolyn Fairbairn, heaped scorn on a Canada-type arrangement - which could take years to negotiate - in an interview with The Observer.

She said: "You have got tens of millions being spent by firms on preparing for friction at borders.

"One of the reasons that the government’s proposals are on the right track is that they will mean no friction at borders.

"This is what the Canada deal does not do. It does not do it in some really fundamental ways. For some of our members, it is not much better than a no-deal outcome."

A fresh analysis of Brexit by the Centre for European Reform think tank meanwhile warned that the UK's public finances have already taken a £500m-a-week hit since the 2016 vote.

The study claims that the UK economy is now some 2.5 per cent smaller than it would have been if Remain had triumphed.