BRITAIN will not blink on Brexit, Jeremy Hunt, the Foreign Secretary, has insisted as he warned the European Union that the likelihood of Britain exiting the EU without a deal was "increasing by the day".

Ahead of talks with his opposite numbers in France and Austria on Tuesday and Wednesday, Mr Hunt insisted that if Brussels failed to strike a withdrawal agreement with the UK it would cause job losses on both sides of the Channel "if Brexit goes wrong".

In an interview with the London Evening Standard, he said: "The probability of no-deal is increasing by the day until we see a change of approach from the European Commission, who have this view that they just need to wait and Britain will blink. That is just a profound misunderstanding of us as a nation.

"There is a real chance of no-deal by accident. Everyone is assuming, no, no, no, this will never happen; well, actually, it could.

"France and Germany have to send a strong signal to the commission that we need to negotiate a pragmatic and sensible outcome that protects jobs on both sides of the Channel because for every job lost in the UK, there will be jobs lost in Europe as well if Brexit goes wrong."

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The Secretary of State said a no-deal scenario would make it harder for European businesses to access finance via the City.

"There would not just be economic consequences for the UK, there would be profound economic consequences for the rest of Europe.

"Probably the City, as the financier of European business, is the central point to make here. If it became harder for European businesses to access finance, that is far from trivial,” declared Mr Hunt.

"The City itself would find a way to thrive, whatever the outcome of the Brexit negotiations.

"If it became a low-tax, low-regulation, offshoot fully outside the EU, it would find a way to thrive in those circumstances. But for European businesses the impact would be profound," he insisted.

The Foreign Secretary said that a "breakdown in relations and trust between Britain and European countries" would be a "profound geo-strategic mistake".

The comments came after Tory MP Marcus Fysh accused Downing Street of launching a scaremongering campaign.

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He told the BBC: "No 10 has briefed that they want to scare people witless. That is irresponsible, scaremongering nonsense and it should stop right now and they should get behind Brexit which people voted for."

The prospect of a no-deal exit has caused concern in the food industry, with the director of the British Sandwich and Food To Go Association, Jim Winship, telling the BBC: "If we suddenly have border controls being introduced that aren't there now, that's going to cause some massive problems with the fresh ingredients.

"We live in a just-in-time world. We don't stockpile ingredients. It's going to limit the amount of choice consumers have if we suddenly crash out.”

Meanwhile, fresh fears over the impact of a no-deal Brexit have been raised regarding how Channel ports would cope with lorry backlogs in such a scenario.

A report by Dover District Council expressed concern over the levels of readiness for the potential situation and stated "urgent clarity" is needed from the Government.

An impact assessment, released under freedom of information, said a "temporary solution" to deal with a no-deal Brexit of converting a 13-mile stretch of the M20 into giant lorry park could last "many years".

The document expressed concern at the slow pace of work on the scheme, named Operation Brock, and stated "there does not appear to be a Plan B".

It added: "A 13-mile stretch of the coast-bound section of the M20, between junction 8 near Maidstone and junction 9 near Ashford, will be earmarked to hold heavy goods vehicles, in what will effectively become a giant temporary lorry park holding around 2,000 lorries.

"It is likely that a permanent solution will not be in place for many years if enacted through current planning processes and procedures.

"It will also depend on the post-Brexit customs arrangements reached with the European Union. Therefore, the 'temporary' traffic-management system Operation Brock will be in force for some time."

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More than 10,000 freight vehicles pass through Dover on peak days as it handles one sixth of the UK's total trade in goods with a value of £119 billion per year, and 99 per cent of the freight moved through the port is intra-EU.

The report explained: "The freight vehicles currently only take seconds to clear the Port of Dover but if Brexit ends up creating regulatory and tariff barriers between the UK and the EU, it is predicted that there could be gridlock around the town and through to Maidstone and beyond.

"If increased waiting times persisted then perishable goods could be damaged and supply chains interrupted. There is also a potential impact on air quality of any increased traffic queues at border controls.

"Customs checks on imports from outside the common market can take between five minutes to 45 minutes per vehicle. Port officials have warned that increasing the average time it takes to clear customs by as little as two minutes could lead to 17-mile traffic jams."

The council, which acts as the health authority responsible for food safety checks at Dover and the Channel Tunnel, also raised issues about its powers.

The document asked whether the UK Government "fully understood" that the Port Health Authority "has powers to examine and detain food, but not to physically stop vehicles in the first place".

It added that officials were "in the large... blind as to what is entering the port".

The layout of the port was open with no physical boundaries which meant there was "nothing to stop vehicles leaving", and the health authority had "inadequate facilities at the port to inspect food or appropriately store food".

The document stated: "We ask that the Government fully engages with us to ensure that the food safety function is fully understood and any proposed controls are outlined... to ensure that they are relevant, workable and logistically feasible bearing in mind the current status."

Labour’s Rosie Duffield, who represents Canterbury, said on behalf of the People’s Vote campaign: “No-one, least of all the people of the South East, voted for a Brexit that turns most of Kent into a giant lorry park for years to come. These are exactly the kind of new facts that reinforce the need for a People’s Vote on the final Brexit deal.

“The Government is making a complete mess of the Brexit negotiations and it’ll be the British people who pay the price through new barriers to trade, higher prices in the shops and massively increased congestion on our transport network.”

She added: “With the Brexit on offer looking very different from the one that was promised and, with new facts coming to light all the time, the case for a People’s Vote on the terms of any Brexit deal is becoming overwhelming.”