Lord Francis Maude said a Brexit trade deal can be done but that “maximalists” on both the Remain and Leave side are making the process more difficult. 

Speaking to CNBC, Lord Maude, a senior advisor at Covington law firm, said: “The problem you have with all of this is that those who took a very strong position either for leaving the EU or for remaining in it, have a tendency to make negotiating the next stage either seem much easier or much more difficult than it will be.

“It will be neither as difficult nor as simple as the maximalists on both sides suggest.”

The former trade minister added that a trade deal can be done and that talks should “get going quickly”.

He said: “Of course, it can be done, but it’s not straightforward.

“It isn’t just a question of the kind of lifting and shifting from one and novating the agreement from the EU to the UK.

“But nonetheless, it can be done but there is a lot of work and it is going to be incredibly important that these negotiations on the future arrangements, which are now able to begin, should get going quickly.”

Theresa May's Government is planning a sector-by-sector trade deal with the EU in a bid to avoid a “Swiss-trap” agreement that could collapse.

Ministers want to set out key industries, such as the pharmaceutical sector, where both the UK and EU will cooperate on regulations.

In exchange for common standards, both sides will get access to each other’s markets.

And should either side later abandon the agreed regulations, World Trade Organisation rules could be invoked.

The idea is part of a bid to press Brussels into a bespoke Brexit deal, something EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier has dismissed but Germany’s foreign minister has backed.