West Dorset MP Sir Oliver Letwin said Theresa May's government did not do enough work to prepare for a no-deal Brexit.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Sir Oliver said: "I think there should have been considerably more preparation even stretching back a couple of years, but we are where we are and although, as you've just said, I don't think it's very sensible for this country to be heading towards a no-deal, we have to accept this Government intends, if it can't get the deal it likes, to take us out without a deal.

"So we may very well find ourselves leaving without a deal, and in that context it makes abundant sense to do everything that can be done in the next three months to prepare the country to minimise the impact of it."

Asked whether he had been having talks with shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer, Sir Oliver said discussions had been going on "for months and months".

He told the Today programme: "There are all sorts of talks going on between everybody and everybody else, and there will continue to be between now and October."

He added: "It is certainly true we have all been talking to one another, I have been doing that for months and months as all of us have."