Liam Fox has warned that the EU will be forced to compensate its trade partners unless the UK is given access to the single market after Brexit, it has been reported.

A leaked memo of a meeting between Irish politician Mary Mitchell O’Connor and Liam Fox details the Trade Secretary's belief that the threat of compensating countries which would no longer have access to the UK's market will force the union to rethink its tough stance on single market access post-Brexit.

Mr Fox is understood to have claimed that the UK can get around strict conditions which would force Britain to accept freedom of movement in return for access by making clear that unless the EU compromises the UK will not ease trade rules for other nations.