Home Secretary Priti Patel gave interview on BBC's flagship politics programme

She clashed with presenter Andrew Marr as he highlighted firms' Brexit fears

Marr accused her of 'laughing' as he read a letter from industry associations

Sources close to Ms Patel denied she had been laughing during the interview

Tory MPs raged that Marr had 'forgotten the British people voted for Brexit'

Click here to resize this module

Furious Tories accused the BBC's Andrew Marr of a 'premeditated' bid to embarrass Priti Patel today after he attacked her for smirking at fears over Brexit.

ADVERTISEMENT

The extraordinary rebuke came as the Home Secretary defended the government's tough stance towards negotiations with the EU.

Marr reeled off a list of industry groups who had raised concerns about having a much looser relationship with the bloc.

He said the bodies - including from the chemical, food and aerospace sectors - were at the 'forefront' of the economy and had raised 'serious risks' about 'consumer food safety, innovation and investment'.

But Marr broke off to observe that Ms Patel - who was being interviewed by video link rather than in the studio - appeared to be smiling.

'I can't see why you are laughing,' the presenter said.

Ms Patel did not respond to the swipe at the time, merely insisting many of the fears were out of date and arguing that the government had been making preparations.

However, a senior Tory source tonight hit back by suggesting Marr had deliberately ambushed the minister.

'She clearly wasn't laughing - anyone can watch the footage back and see that. He wasn't even looking up at the time which suggests this was a premeditated move to generate a bit of publicity,' they told MailOnline.

Marr interrupted his list to observe that Ms Patel - who was being interviewed by video link rather than in the studio - appeared to be smiling

During the interview with Priti Patel today, Andrew Marr reeled off a list of industry groups who had raised concerns about having a much looser relationship with the EU

Click here to resize this module

Conservative MPs were also furious, telling MailOnline that Marr had no right to 'berate' the Home Secretary and seemed to have 'forgotten that the British people did actually vote for Brexit'.

Senior backbencher Nigel Evans said: 'Part of the problem is that people like Andrew Marr forget that the British people actually voted for Brexit.

What happens next in the Brexit crisis? Here is how the coming weeks could pan out: Today: Angela Merkel and Emmanuel Macron are due to meet in France. The dinner will be a key waypointer to whether a deal will be possible next week. Tomorrow: Parliament is due to return for the Queen's Speech. In Brussels, the EU will 'take stock' with Mr Barnier over whether the legal text meets their criteria and can be put before leaders for approval. October 17-18: A crunch EU summit in Brussels. Any deal could be signed off by leaders here. If the talks have broken down, expect Boris Johnson to either boycott the event, or stage a dramatic walkout. October 19: Parliament will sit on Saturday for the first time since the Falklands War. If there is no Brexit deal by this date Remainer legislation obliges the PM to beg the EU for an extension to avoid No Deal. Mr Johnson is likely to force a vote to make MPs 'own' any delay, having said he would rather 'die in a ditch' than accept one. If there is a deal in place, there will be a make-or-break vote on whether to back it. If passed by the Commons, the government will start rushing legislation through Parliament immediately. Monday: Jeremy Corbyn has said that he will let Mr Johnson trigger an election after an extension has been secured. This would probably be the first day when a motion can be brought to a vote under the Fixed Term Parliaments Act, or a confidence vote can be held. October 31: The current deadline for the UK to leave the EU, which Mr Johnson has previously described as 'do or die'. Thursday, November 28: An election looks inevitable whichever way the Brexit drama goes. Legally there must be 25 working days between Parliament being dissolved and the election date. This looks to be the most likely date for a poll, given they are traditionally held on Thursdays.

'The people who pay the licence fee, the people who pay their taxes, they voted for Brexit.'

ADVERTISEMENT

He added: 'It is called democracy.... Democracy within the BBC is give us the licence fee and we will pump whatever we want at you.'

'It is pointless him berating the Home Secretary for trying to deliver what we promised the British people three years ago we would deliver.'

Mr Evans said: 'If we were Belarus or Zimbabe where the government had just ignored the wishes of the people in a referendum, it would be people like Andrew Marr who would be the first to say how shocking it all is.

'But when it happens in their own country and they don't like the result of the referendum, it is quite remarkable how flexible they are with the concept of democracy,'

Remainers seized on the spat on social media as evidence that the government did not care about the fallout from Brexit.

The exchange kicked off when Marr said the government's own estimates predicted a Canada-style deal would lower economic growth.

The presenter said there were a 'whole bunch' of industry groups that had raised concerns, listing the Society for Motor Manufacturers and Traders, the Chemical Industries Association, the Food and Drink Federation, the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry, and the Aerospace Trade Industry body.

He said they represented 'a lot of people who are actually at the forefront of trying to make this country earn its place in the world'.

Marr went on to read a joint letter from the business groups which claims Boris Johnson's plans are 'a serious risk to manufacturing competitiveness and will result in huge new costs and disruption to UK firms'.

But glancing up from the text, Marr said to Ms Patel: 'I can’t see why you’re laughing.'

The Home Secretary did not respond to the dig, but said: 'This is why the government has been working assiduously – with business as well I should say – across a range of sectors when it comes to planning for our exit from the European Union.

'That is vital, that’s very important, and many of those organisations, Andrew, that you yourself have listed have been part of those discussions...

'I do take issue with the way in which you phrased that, because as a government we have a duty to work with those sectors, with those organisations, and we’re doing that.'

ADVERTISEMENT

During the interview, Ms Patel said ministers were looking at 'alternative arrangements' for intelligence and data sharing, but denied it feared an upsurge of Irish republican terrorism in the event of no-deal.

'That is not the case at all,' she said.

'Our security arrangements will be based upon the type of tools, the type of shared intelligence forums and the data sharing platforms that we currently have, but again looking at alternative arrangements in which we can share that intelligence and information and data.

'We have been working on that over the last three months.'

She added: 'When it comes to security tools and security co-operation there are many measures that are being put in place right now in preparedness for no-deal. Those include a range of security tools that we have been working on.

'Specifically to Northern Ireland, we are very conscious and we are working with all organisations, agencies to ensure that we remain safe.'