Businesses should stop warning about negative impact of Brexit, says Jeremy Hunt

'It's completely inappropriate for businesses to be making these kinds of threats,' says health secretary

Leading businesses should stop warning about the economic impact of Brexit and instead “get behind Theresa May”, Jeremy Hunt has said.

The health secretary said it was “completely inappropriate” for industry leaders to “undermine” the prime minister by speaking out about their fears.

Mr Hunt dismissed “siren voices” who say Brexit negotiations are not going well, saying people should “ignore” them.

It comes after Airbus, which employs 14,000 people in the UK, said it was considering moving jobs abroad because of the ongoing uncertainty over Britain’s withdrawal from the EU.

Asked for his response to the warning, Mr Hunt told The Andrew Marr Show: “I just thought it’s completely inappropriate for businesses to be making these kinds of threats, for one very simple reason: we are in an absolutely critical moment in the Brexit discussions and what that means is that we need to get behind Theresa May to deliver the best possible Brexit – a clean Brexit.

“What businesses want – and I was in business for 14 years – is clarity and certainty, and the more we undermine Theresa May the more likely we are to end up with a fudge, which will be an absolute disaster for everyone.”

Amid growing concern among business leaders, BMW and Siemens joined Airbus in voicing fears about the impact of Brexit.

Ian Robertson, head of BMW UK, said the company would be forced to make “contingency plans” unless the government provides “clarity” in the next two months, while Siemens UK chief executive Juergen Maier said “the realities are setting in”.

And in a letter to Ms May and EU leaders, the heads of five UK business lobby groups said ongoing uncertainty about Britain leaving the EU “could cost the UK economy billions of pounds, thousands of jobs, and leave many families without a main income”.

However, Mr Hunt said people should ”ignore” the “siren voices” who say Brexit is not going to plan.

He said: “I don’t think it’s particularly surprising, first of all, that multinational companies have qualms about Brexit and, secondly, that at this stage in the negotiations things feel pretty tricky, because the European Commission has got absolutely no interest at all in saying that these Brexit talks are going swimmingly well, well done team Britain and we’re going to have a good deal.

“They were always going to be saying that this is going to be very tricky. That’s part of their negotiating tactics and we have to stand firm in this situation, ignore these siren voices and get on and support Theresa May.”

Mr Hunt insisted Ms May was the best person to negotiate for Britain because she “has the instincts of a Brexiteer but the cautious pragmatism of a Remainer”.

His comments come amid growing business concern that industry fears are being dismissed by the government.

Reports suggest Boris Johnson, the foreign secretary, responded to a question about business worries earlier this month by saying: “F*** business.”

Juergen Maier, chief executive of Siemens UK, accused Mr Johnson and his fellow Brexiteers of “incredibly unhelpful” language.

He said: “I think the realities are setting in and I think it is time to get away from slogans, ‘full British Brexit’, ‘going into combat with Europe’.

“It’s all incredibly unhelpful and what we need to do now is to get closer with our European partners and work out what a realistic, pragmatic Brexit is that works for both sides, the EU and ourselves.”