Lingerie entrepreneur and Tory peer Baroness Mone of Mayfair has revealed she is backing the Remain campaign.

Lady Mone, who founded the bra and underwear business Ultimo Brands in 1996 but left the firm last summer as her political and other business interests grew, insisted Britain could not afford the risk of Brexit.

"At the end of the day we need to have stability. And I have been on the fence as well, but I am staying in. I am just not prepared to take that risk.

"We need to get the country back, and the country going. And, yes, hindsight is a wonderful thing - if we weren't in the EU - but we are in the EU and I think it's too risky to come out," Lady Mone told The Pledge on Sky News.

The Tory peer, who quoted the lyrics to Whitney Houston's The Greatest Love Of All during her maiden speech in the Lords, also came up with a novel way to improve the Government's relations with doctors - give them their birthdays off work.

"I think our doctors are having a hard time and I want to stick up for them. We need to give them more incentives to stay. What about offering tax breaks? And helping them pay back their loans? Or even just giving them the option of a day off on their birthday? It's not just about the money," the peer said.

Appointed start-up business tsar by Prime Minister David Cameron, the 44-year-old, who grew up in the east end of Glasgow, was one of 45 new peers announced by Downing Street in August.

More than half the new intake were Conservatives, prompting accusations of "cronyism" from opposition parties.