Theresa May told bankers before the referendum that firms would leave the UK if the country voted for Brexit, a previously unheard recording has revealed.
A month before the EU referendum, the then-home secretary told an audience that leaving the single market would threaten jobs.
Speaking to investment bankers at Goldman Sachs, she said that global companies would think twice about investing in the UK if we left.
The comments, revealed in the Guardian, are stronger than her more nuanced public position during the referendum campaign.
Although she was a Remain supporter, No 10 was worried about her lukewarm support for EU membership.
Downing Street sought to play down the remarks today, insisting Mrs May had said during the campaign that there were ‘opportunities and risks’ to leaving the EU.
‘The Prime Minister is focused now on making sure it is the opportunities that we seize,’ Mrs May’s spokeswoman said.
