ES News email The latest headlines in your inbox twice a day Monday - Friday plus breaking news updates Enter your email address Continue Please enter an email address Email address is invalid Fill out this field Email address is invalid You already have an account. Please log in Register with your social account or click here to log in I would like to receive lunchtime headlines Monday - Friday plus breaking news alerts, by email Update newsletter preferences

Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt today issued an urgent appeal asking France and Germany to make the European Commission strike a “sensible” pro-jobs trade deal with Britain.

In his first newspaper interview since taking over as Britain’s top diplomat, Mr Hunt said the likelihood of the country crashing out of the EU with No Deal is “increasing by the day”.

He stressed that such a chaotic scenario would cause job losses on both sides of the Channel and hit EU businesses by stemming the flow of finance from the City.

Speaking to the Evening Standard, Mr Hunt warned EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier that the bloc’s current approach could inflict a “breakdown in relations and trust between Britain and European countries” which would be a “profound geo-strategic mistake”.

“The probability of No Deal is increasing by the day until we see a change of approach from the European Commission who have this view that they just need to wait and Britain will blink. That is just a profound misunderstanding of us as a nation.

“There is real chance of No Deal by accident. Everyone is assuming, no, no, no, this will never happen. Well, actually, it could.

“France and Germany have to send a strong signal to the Commission that we need to negotiate a pragmatic and sensible outcome that protects jobs on both sides of the Channel because for every job lost in the UK, there will be jobs lost in Europe as well if Brexit goes wrong.”

France has taken a hardline on Brexit and has sought to siphon off jobs from the Square Mile to Paris.

However, Mr Hunt believes No Deal would be an economic “tragedy” for the Continent and that it would “change British public attitudes towards Europe for a generation”.

He stressed how dependent companies across Europe are on funding from the Square Mile, which could become far more difficult to access if there is no agreement.

Ahead of high-level talks in Paris with French foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, Mr Hunt said: “There would not just be economic consequences for the UK, there would be profound economic consequences for the rest of Europe.

“Probably the City, as the financier of European business, is the central point to make here. If it became harder for European businesses to access finance, that is far from trivial.

“The City itself would find a way to thrive, whatever the outcome of the Brexit negotiations.

“If it became a low-tax, low-regulation, offshoot fully outside the EU, it would find a way to thrive in those circumstances. But for European businesses the impact would be profound.”

Mr Hunt believes there is a new spirit and willingness on the British side of Brexit talks after he took over as Foreign Secretary from Brexiteer Boris Johnson, and Dominic Raab replaced David Davis as Brexit Secretary.

“It’s based on the fact that we have a united Cabinet position, we are absolutely clear what we want, we know it’s not just the right thing for Britain, but it’s the right thing for Europe as well,” he said. “So we are going out and making the case extremely strongly.”

Mr Hunt flew to Paris from Beijing, where he held talks on a future trade deal, and is heading to Vienna tomorrow. He rejected calls for the hard Brexit being demanded by the European Research Group of Tories led by Jacob Rees-Mogg.

“Theresa May has made a decision that we want our economic future to remain close to Europe, it’s the biggest single market in the world, it’s right on our doorstep,” he said.

However, Mr Hunt, who is now seen as one of the contenders to replace Mrs May if she quits, suggested Brussels should make concessions following the Prime Minister’s Chequers plan, which would keep close ties on trade while allowing the UK more freedom over deals on services around the world.

He said: “I’ve always been someone who believed that if we ended up with No Deal we would find a way to thrive economically because we are Britain, we are that sort of country. We have solved these kinds of problems.

“What would be less easy to solve would be the breakdown in relations and trust between Britain and European countries that would happen in that situation and I think that would be a profound geo-strategic mistake. This is a time of massive uncertainty.”