Downing Street denies leaked Brexit timetable

Reports tonight of a leaked document apparently from the Department for Exiting the EU, which outlined the government’s strategy for revealing a successful Brexit deal to the press and MPs later this month, have been refuted by Downing Street.

A spokesperson for the Prime Minister's office said the document seemed "childish", denying its authenticity:

"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."

Described as a leaked departmental email, the plan said Prime Minister Theresa May expects to strike a Brexit deal within days, which Brexit secretary Dominic Raab would later champion as a "moment of decisive progress".

May would reportedly then announce to business leaders at an upcoming CBI conference on 19 November that the government had "delivered on the referendum".

The document also suggested that officials will seek to line up supportive comments from the UK's main business and lobby groups.

When contacted by City A.M., all groups mentioned insisted they haven't been approached and would wait to see details of any final deal.

Earlier in the day, May said she would not agree to a Brexit deal "at any cost", as ministers needed more time to consider the appropriate mechanism for withdrawal.