Britain could continue to take advantage of a ground-breaking EU trade deal even after it has left the Brussels club, Canada’s trade minister said today.

Chrystia Freeland said Ottawa was keen for the UK to piggyback on a comprehensive free trade deal between the EU and Canada, which is set to be implemented early next year.

And she made it clear that Canada had no interest in punishing the UK for leaving the EU, saying: ‘We have a very robust relationship – we are not just friends, we are family.’

Chrystia Freeland (pictured) said Montreal was keen for the UK to piggyback on a comprehensive free trade deal between the EU and Canada, which is set to be implemented early next year

Her call came as former Bank of England governor Mervyn King hit out at ‘hysterical’ warnings about the potential impact of Brexit on the economy – and said Britain could ‘certainly’ make a success of leaving the EU.

During the EU referendum, Remain campaigners warned repeatedly that Britain would have to start from scratch in negotiating trade arrangements with the 50 countries Brussels has already struck trade deals with.

But Miss Freeland, who was in London for talks with new International Trade Secretary Liam Fox and current Bank governor Mark Carney, said Canada was keen to ensure a seamless transition in its dealings with the UK.

She said there was no reason why the UK could not remain part of the new Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (Ceta) between Canada and the EU even after it left the Brussels club.

‘We are already on track to have the UK and Canada have an even closer foundation for our trade relationship, and that will be quite soon,’ she told BBC Radio Four’s Today programme.

Former Bank of England governor Mervyn King (pictured) hit out at ‘hysterical’ warnings about the potential impact of Brexit on the economy – and said Britain could ‘certainly’ make a success of leaving the EU

‘It is something that the UK would be party to as a member of the EU.

'Then the issue will be for the UK and the EU to figure out their new trading relationship. Part of that figuring out will be figuring out how Ceta will work between all three parties.'

Miss Freeland said it was not in Canada’s interests to impose trade barriers with the UK.

‘The UK-Canada relationship is really, really strong,’ she said. ‘We export about £11 billion-worth to the UK and we import about £8 billion-worth. Canadian investors put about £45.5 billion into the UK every year. We have a very robust relationship.’

Canada's trade minister Chrystia Freeland was in London for talks with new International Trade Secretary Liam Fox (pictured)

Miss Freeland said the EU-Canada trade deal, which has taken seven years to negotiate, was one of the most comprehensive ever struck, and went even further than the arrangement it has with the United States.

Comparing the deal with the UK’s current relationship with the EU, she said it was ‘not as ambitious on labour mobility’ as full EU membership – but warned it offers fewer rights for firms operating in financial services.

Lord King said today there was bound to be some business uncertainty in the wake of the Brexit vote.

But he warned that politicians and some in the media were in danger of talking Britain down and reducing the chances of a successful deal.

‘There has been a slight degree of hysteria in the reaction in the last three weeks, principally among the political class and some in the media too.

‘The political and media class have been tearing themselves apart, wildly exaggerating things, and I hope now we will be able calm down and get back to a proper programme of work to make this departure from the EU a workable success, which we can certainly do.’

Meanwhile, former Cabinet minister Oliver Letwin warned the Government faced a major task in recruiting officials to lead trade negotiations which have been the preserve of Brussels for the past four decades.

Mr Letwin, who was in charge of Brexit negotiations before he was sacked by Theresa May on Thursday, said the Government currently had no trade negotiators at all.

Asked if the UK had its own team, he replied: ‘No, no. We don’t have trade negotiators because the trade negotiation has been going on in the EU so we are going to have to hire a whole group.’