Claims by Amazon that there will be “civil unrest” within weeks of a no deal Brexit have been dismissed as “absurd” by Jacob Rees-Mogg, the leader of the European Research Group of Tories.

Eurosceptics rounded on the US company on Sunday evening after it emerged that Doug Gurr, its UK manager, had made the doom-laden forecast during a meeting of business leaders last week.

According to The Times, Mr Gurr stunned a meeting organised by Dominic Raab, the new Brexit Secretary, with some present questioning Amazon’s predictions.

An Amazon spokesman did not deny the comments when approached, stating only that the company “consider a wide range of scenarios in planning discussions”.

Mr Rees-Mogg said the claims were “absurd” when asked last night, telling the BBC’s Westminster Hour he didn’t understand how trading on World Trade Organisation terms would lead to societal order breaking down.

“I don’t understand why anyone thinks that leaving on WTO terms — which is how we trade with nearly 60 percent of the rest of the world — would suddenly lead to civil unrest,” he added.