Idea met with anger as it would overturn democratic will of Leave voters

Urged 'sensible compromise' to restrict the free movement of EU migrants

He called for the next PM to be allowed to 'negotiate a deal' with Brussels

Britain should negotiate a deal to control its borders and then hold a second referendum, Jeremy Hunt suggested last night.

The Health Secretary called for whoever becomes Prime Minister to be allowed to 'negotiate a deal' with Brussels. He urged a 'sensible compromise' to restrict the free movement of EU migrants to the UK.

'We must not invoke Article 50 straight away because that puts a time limit of two years on negotiations after which we could be thrown out with no deal at all,' he wrote in the Daily Telegraph.

Jeremy Hunt, pictured on today's Good Morning Britain, called for whoever becomes Prime Minister to be allowed to 'negotiate a deal' with Brussels

'So before setting the clock ticking we need to negotiate a deal and put it to the British people either in the referendum or through the Conservative manifesto at a fresh general election.'

Mr Hunt is one of eight leading Tory MPs preparing to stand as a candidate to succeed David Cameron.

His idea was met with anger as it would overturn the democratic will of the majority of Britons who voted to leave the bloc last week.

Ukip MP Douglas Carswell said it was a plot by the Westminster elite, posting on Twitter: 'And so it begins. The SW1 set manoeuvring to disregard the views of the people.'

He added: 'It has now taken a minister less than 100 hours since polls closed to demand a new referendum. Dangerous territory.'

Hunt's idea was met with anger as it would overturn the democratic will of the majority of Britons who voted to leave the bloc last week. Ukip MP Douglas Carswell (pictured) said it was a plot by the Westminster elite

The row came as David Cameron claimed the results of the referendum could not be overturned as he set up a Whitehall unit to put Brexit into effect.

The Prime Minister told MPs he had established a team of civil servants to prepare the way for negotiations on withdrawal – a task he called the most 'complex and important' for decades.

Pro-Remain campaigners have suggested a second referendum to allow the public to think again, even though Leave won by four percentage points.

But in his first statement to the Commons since last week's historic decision, the PM pointedly warned MPs not to seek to overturn the decision, saying: 'There can be no doubt about the result.'

Mr Cameron said he was pressing ahead with the creation of a 'Brexit unit', with the Tories' policy chief Oliver Letwin in charge of taking views from all sides on the next steps.