Meanwhile, last minute bid to revive Project Fear

BIG business was last night accused of resurrecting Project Fear as bosses lined up to issue warnings on Brexit.

Figures from retail and the car and aerospace industries claimed food could be left rotting at ports, planes grounded and investments put at risk.

Britain’s biggest carmaker, Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), said a socalled ‘hard Brexit’ could see it pulling investment from the UK.

Chief executive Ralf Speth said: ‘A bad Brexit would cost us more than £1.2billion profit each year. We have spent around £50billion in the UK in the past five years – with plans for a further £80billion more in the next five. This would be in jeopardy.’

It came as the British Retail Consortium (BRC) warned that a cliffedge Brexit could jam supply chains. In a letter to Theresa May, the BRC’s chairman Richard Pennycook and chief executive Helen Dickinson added: ‘It is likely that we will see food rotting at ports.’

Paul Everitt, head of aerospace trade body ADS, warned that planes could be grounded if the UK leaves the European Aviation Safety Agency, which certifies plane parts, without a new system set up.

He said: ‘Our worst case scenario is genuinely... aircraft will not fly on April 1 or March 30.’

Tory MP Jacob Rees-Mogg denounced the attempt to bring Project Fear ‘back from the dead’.

He said: ‘It is striking how many businesses dependent upon Government contracts and taxpayers’ money join in Project Fear.

‘The entrepreneurs are generally more enthusiastic about the opportunities Brexit will bring.’