This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

The Confederation of British Industry has dismissed reports that it would play a part in a government PR plan to sell a Brexit deal to the public.

The business organisation said it had no knowledge of the reported plan, which suggested that both its director general Carolyn Fairbairn and the Japanese prime minister would endorse the Brexit deal, if and when it was secured.

The trade body said it was not approached by anyone in government and made clear that it would not be blindly roped into any Downing Street communications strategy.

“The CBI has no knowledge of this document – and will judge any deal on its merits,” said a spokesman.

The plan, which Downing Street has said is not current “government thinking”, was widely leaked to the media on Tuesday.

It laid out an apparent timetable for the month, starting with the cabinet meeting this Tuesday and culminating in a deal on 27 November.

The intervening period would be filled with daily triumphant announcements on all aspects of Brexit including immigration, jobs and the economy, and the NHS.

Pencilled in for 19 November was a May speech extolling the unifying impact of her deal.

It went on: “Government lining up 25 top business voices including Carolyn Fairbairn and lots of world leaders eg Japanese PM to tweet support for the deal.”

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The CBI, which has been highly critical of Theresa May’s strategy in the past, said the government needed to urgently focus on the deal and not PR.

“With negotiations at a crucial phase, the UK government’s focus at this time must be on the backstop that is key to unlocking the much-needed transition period and future talks. This is urgent.

“The CBI has always been clear on what is needed to make a success of Brexit: a deal that delivers frictionless trade for goods, unprecedented access for services, an open and controlled immigration system, and a say over future rules.”

The CBI is deeply concerned about the damage the prospect of Brexit is already causing to it members.

On Monday it released new research on business preparations which showed Brexit was having “a negative effect on investment decisions for eight in 10 firms”.

Contingency plans were already being put into place which involved cutting jobs, adjusting supply chains, stockpiling goods and relocation of production and services overseas.

According to the PR plan, Ireland’s prime minister, Leo Varadkar, and the academic Anand Menon, who has been leading a research programme on the impact of Brexit across a multitude of universities, were also pencilled in for support on 24 November.

Downing Street was quick to distance itself from the leaked plan. A source said on Tuesday: “The misspelling and childish language in this document should be enough to make clear it doesn’t represent the government’s thinking. You would expect the government to have plans for all situations – to be clear, this isn’t one of them.”