Theresa May has been accused of costing the West Midlands thousands of jobs by failing to lead successful Brexit negotiations.

The Prime Minister will attempt to unite her warring Cabinet when they meet at her Chequers country home on Friday, to try to decide what type of deal the UK wants with the EU.

But the long delay in coming to a decision is already destroying jobs, according to Labour MEP Sion Simon.

The West Midlands MEP said: “We’re already leaking thousands of manufacturing jobs from the West Midlands and we haven’t even left yet.

"Thats just on the uncertainty caused by the government’s catastrophic mismanagement of the negotiations.

“I think it’s fair to describe their shambolic incompetence as the worst handling of a vital national issue by any government ever.

"They’re an international laughing stock and a national disgrace.”

It comes after a series of warnings from employers that lack of certainty over Brexit is damaging the economy.

  • Carmaker BMW said it could be forced to close plants in the UK, including its engine manufacturing facility at Hams Hill, Coleshill, near Birmingham.

  • Mike Hawes, chief executive officer of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, said the UK motor industry faced “death by a thousand cuts” because firms were unwilling to invest in the UK

  • CBI President Paul Deschler warned “there are sectors of manufacturing society in the UK which risk becoming extinct” if the country fails to agree a customs deal with the EU.

But the Government is deeply divided over what sort of deal it wants, even though the aim is to get something agreed with the EU in time for a vote in Parliament in October, ready for Brexit to take place on March 29 2019.

Warning: Sion Simon MEP

Oliver Robbins, Mrs May’s chief Brexit official, is reported to have told ministers they have no chance of striking a bespoke trade deal with Brussels.

The Prime Minister is said to be attracted to the “Norway option”, which would mean that the UK stays in the single market. The advantage of this is that there would be no need to sign a bespoke new trade deal - but it would mean the UK accepted rules drawn up by the EU.

However, it is unclear whether this would be accepted by Brexit-supporting members of the Cabinet such as Boris Johnson or David Davis.

And influential backbench MP Jacob Rees-Mogg has insisted Theresa May must deliver a hard Brexit or risk collapsing the Government.

He said the Prime Minister and her top team must decide at a meeting at Chequers on Friday if they would stand by her pledges or reduce “a once-proud country” to a “tremulous state that sees Brexit as mere damage limitation”.

Former Conservative leader Lord Howard told the Today programme: “The Prime Minister has made a series of promises, the Prime Minister has repeatedly said that we must regain control of our laws, our money and our borders.

“I have great confidence in the Prime Minister. I am sure that she will deliver a Brexit that is entirely consistent with the promises she has made.”

Local Government Secretary James Brokenshire appeared to admit the Cabinet was divided as he said there was “no doubt that there is strong views on either side” over Brexit. But he insisted he was “confident” Mrs May’s top team could reach an agreement at the meeting.

Meanwhile, former Birmingham MP Gisela Stuart, one of the leaders of the “Leave” campaign in the 2016 referendum, criticised people calling for a fresh public vote.

Gisela Stuart speaks to the Birmingham Mail
No second referendum: Gisela Stuart

She told Sky News’ Ridge on Sunday show: “If your motive for calling for a second referendum is to delay and overturn the decision ... you undermine democratic institutions because we were promised a referendum and the Prime Minister said ‘whatever you decide, I will implement it’”

However, she said supporters of Brexit could support a longer “transition period”, before the UK leaves the EU entirely, as long as it was clear that the arrangement was only temporary.

Sunday newspapers reported Conservative cabinet ministers are campaigning for potential leadership bids once Mrs May steps down.

Environment Secretary Michael Gove is said to have told Tory MPs he would cancel the HS2 high speed rail line and spend the money on rail in the North instead, according to the Sunday Times.