Failing to secure a Brexit deal with the European Union would put Britain at a 'very big disadvantage', Hillary Clinton has claimed.

The former US secretary of state and presidential hopeful also said the Brexit result and more specifically the alleged lies told in the run up to the referendum were a precursor to her defeat to Donald Trump in last year's presidential elections.

Mrs Clinton, who was today presented with an honorary degree at Swansea University, took a swipe at President Trump and said he 'doesn't believe in trade'.

Failing to secure a Brexit deal with the European Union would put Britain at a 'very big disadvantage', Hillary Clinton has claimed

The former US secretary of state and presidential hopeful also said the Brexit result was a precursor to her defeat to Donald Trump in last year's presidential elections

Mrs Clinton, who was today presented with an honorary degree at Swansea University, took a swipe at President Trump and said he 'doesn't believe in trade'

Mrs Clinton told BBC One's The Andrew Marr Show: 'I think it would be a very big disadvantage to Britain.

'I mean, no deal meaning no preferential trade deals, which means products in Britain would not have the kind of easy access to the European market that you've had under EU membership.

'It could very well mean that there would be more pressure on businesses in Britain, if not to leave completely, at least also have sites and employment elsewhere in Europe.

'I think that the disruption for Britain could be, you know, quite serious.'

President Trump has said it is 'possible' the US will pull out of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) struck more than two decades ago with Mexico and Canada.

Asked about the UK's trading future with America, Mrs Clinton said: 'Well, yes, but you're making a trade deal with someone who says he doesn't believe in trade. So I'm not quite sure how that's going to play out over the next few years.

'He looks like he's on the verge of taking (us) out of NAFTA rather than reworking NAFTA. Our biggest trading partners in the world are Canada and Mexico. So these will have real world economic consequences.'

Speaking on the Andrew Marr Show, she said: 'Looking at the Brexit vote now, it was a precursor to some extent of what happened to us in the United States'

Mrs Clinton was presented with an honorary degree at Swansea University on Saturday and was recognised for her commitment to promoting the rights of children around the world

Some protesters gathered outside the campus ahead of Mrs Clinton's visit on Saturday

Mrs Clinton was presented with an honorary degree at Swansea University on Saturday and was recognised for her commitment to promoting the rights of families and children around the world, a cause shared by the university's Observatory on the Human Rights of Children and Young People.

During her speech at the university, she called for 'empathy' on both sides of the Atlantic and highlighted the plight of children in the UK.

She said: 'Teachers and schools are reporting an outbreak of bullying and racially motivated insults.

'Here in the UK, divisive rhetoric and policy shifts are having their own effects.

'Right now, the residency rights of half a million children, including many who were born in the UK, are hanging in the balance.

'So there are reports of children being worried, feeling uncertain, even unsafe. Trying to make sense of their places in the world.

In the same interview Mrs Clinton warned failing to secure a Brexit deal with the European Union would put Britain at a 'very big disadvantage'

Mrs Clinton said no deal could mean more pressure on British businesses and the disruption could be 'quite serious'

'The children's commissioners for England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have already raised concerns that children's interests are getting short shrift in the Brexit process.'

The former first lady said she continues to 'believe in the value of the European Union', adding: 'What's missing in both of our countries at the moment it seems to me, and what we need more than anything else, is empathy.'

Some protesters gathered outside the campus ahead of Mrs Clinton's visit on Saturday.

The university's college of law was renamed The Hillary Rodham Clinton School of Law and she was presented with a book about her Welsh roots.