A LEADING figure from the food and drink industry has said he is "absolutely terrified" about the impact of a no-deal Brexit if it leads to the imposition of tariffs on trade with the EU.

Ian Wright, chief executive of the Food and Drink Federation, said a no-deal Brexit would cause "enormous amounts of disruption and enormous amounts of difficulty" for its members.

He told BBC Breakfast: "The real problem here is that the disruption that we would have from no deal would very quickly lead to empty shelves, it would lead to more expensive products, and it would lead to a real diminution of choice - particularly for people in poorer areas and at the end of distribution chains."

Wright said most of the federation's members would be "horrified" by the imposition of tariffs on EU trade, adding: "I'm absolutely terrified of the prospects for our economy and our food and drink industry by the prospect of tariffs.

"It will cause enormous amounts of disruption and enormous amounts of difficulty."

Shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry has said it is "likely" Britain would leave the EU under a Labour government, although there was a strong case for a second referendum.

"I think that we are likely to leave the EU but I think it is something we need to agree ourselves and I think that there is a strong argument for asking the people to have a final say on this," she told Sky News's Sophy Ridge On Sunday programme.

"I think that it is quite difficult for us to leave the European Union, most of us campaigned for Remain. I think in our hearts we want to remain, but the difficulty is that we have to square that with democracy. We are democrats above everything else."

Following the rejection by the Commons of Theresa May's Brexit deal for the third time, Thornberry said the Prime Minster was "out of control".

"Even with just days to go she is just saying 'It is my deal or no deal'. That is not meaningful, that is not democracy. That is Theresa May stamping her feet and saying 'I want this, no one else is allowed to do anything,'" she said.

"No wonder she is in trouble. She is out of control. She is not listening to anyone. No one knows what it is that she is going to do next. I think her judgment has been undermined."

Conservative former minister Alistair Burt, asked if there are other ministers willing to resign and how many, told Sky News's Sophy Ridge On Sunday programme: "There are, I'm not going to put a number on it but that really shouldn't be in a way what we're talking about."

Burt, who quit his ministerial position to enable indicative votes on Brexit alternatives, added: "I don't want to see more resignations - my colleagues and I want to see a situation in which we've made an agreement and we've done what we think the British people have wanted to do, which is leave the EU but leave on good terms."

On the prospect of another general election, Burt said: "We're all with Brenda from Bristol on this - oh no, not another one. I don't see a general election now adding to the mix that we're in at the moment as anything that would be likely to be helpful to the country, whoever leads the Conservative Party or Labour Party or anyone else at the moment."

Pressed on whether Theresa May should lead the Tories into another election, he replied: "The Prime Minister has already said she's expecting to leave after we get the first stage of Brexit going through, I don't anticipate a general election before that is done - so probably the answer would be no."

Labour's Lisa Nandy (Wigan) said May has "caused some problems this week", telling the same programme: "By saying she'll stand down when the Withdrawal Agreement goes through, which was designed to reassure hardline Tory MPs on her own side, she's actually had precisely the opposite effect on the Labour side because these guarantees she's currently making, we have no idea whether they'll be met by a new prime minister."

Conservative Party deputy chairman James Cleverly has said the party is not preparing for a snap general election to resolve the Brexit deadlock.

"I don't think an election would solve anything. Time is of the essence, we have got Brexit to deliver. We don't want to add any more unnecessary delay," he told Sky News's Sophy Ridge On Sunday programme.

Cleverly acknowledged that "sensible and pragmatic" contingency planning was taking place in case Theresa May was forced to go to the country early.

"We have got a minority Government in a turbulent time," he said.

In such circumstances, he said it was an "inevitable possibility" that May would lead the party into the election.

Justice Secretary David Gauke has said the Government cannot afford to ignore the will of Parliament if it votes for a "softer" Brexit.

Gauke said the Prime Minister would have to look "very closely" if MPs back a customs union in a fresh round of indicative votes this week.

"I think that she would need to look very closely at that," he told BBC1's The Andrew Marr Show.

"If Parliament is voting overwhelmingly against leaving the European Union without a deal but is voting in favour of a softer Brexit, then I don't think it's sustainable to ignore Parliament's position and therefore leave without a deal."

Gauke said he could not remain a member of the Government if it tried to leave with no deal, but said that May had made clear that was something she would not do.

"My position is that it is not the responsible thing for a government to do, to leave without a deal in these circumstances, so obviously I wouldn't be able to remain a member the Government that pursued that as a policy. That is a point I have made on a number of occasions," he said.

"The Prime Minister has been very clear that when Parliament is making it clear what it wants to do, she is not going to go down that route."