Two of the biggest donors to the Brexit campaign have said they are now expecting the UK to stay in the European Union.

Peter Hargreaves and Crispin Odey, who both donated huge sums to the Leave campaign in 2016, have claimed they believe the decision to leave the bloc will be reversed.

Mr Odey, who has profited from betting against the pound amid Brexit uncertainty, said he was positioning his hedge fund Odey Asset Management for the pound to strengthen if Brexit is cancelled.

The donors have spoken out as the government is braced for defeat in a critical vote on Theresa May’s Brexit deal on Tuesday, an outcome which would cast significant doubt over the way forward.

“My view is that it ain’t going to happen,” Mr Odey said. “I just can’t see how it happens with that configuration of parliament.”

He said he had changed his position on sterling over the last month and that the pound “looks like it could be quite strong”.

Mr Odey also took aim at Brexiteers, saying: “The unfortunate thing is that almost nobody is leading the Brexit charge, so it’s leaderless, which is the problem.”

Peter Hargreaves: ‘They are banking on the fact people are so fed up they will just say, sod it we will stay’ (Hargreaves Lansdown)

Mr Hargreaves, who amassed billions from cofounding financial services firm Hargreaves Lansdown, said he believed the government would extend Article 50 then call for a second referendum.

The 72-year-old, who donated £3.2m to Leave groups, said: “I have totally given up. I am totally in despair, I don’t think Brexit will happen at all.

“They [pro-Europeans] are banking on the fact that people are so fed up with it that they will just say ‘sod it we will stay’. I do see that attitude.

“The problem is when something doesn’t happen for so long you feel less angry about it.”

Their warning came as Jeremy Hunt suggested MPs would have the power to thwart a no-deal Brexit, leaving parliament with a choice between the prime minister’s deal and no Brexit at all.

The foreign secretary said rejecting Ms May’s plan would usher in “Brexit paralysis” with the “possibility in sight” of the UK remaining in the EU.

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“I’m saying this would be an incredibly damaging breach of trust and it would also be very bad for Britain’s reputation abroad, having decided to leave the EU, if we in the end for whatever reasons found that we weren’t able to do it,” he told the Today programme.