France’s finance minister has called some British politicians “liars”, saying they tricked voters into thinking leaving the EU would be easy and in their interests.

As Prime Minister Theresa May battles to save her Brexit plan, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said: “The truth is that Brexit could end with a nightmare.”

Mr Le Maire defended the European Union’s single market, calling it a “considerable force” in global trade and warned that Britain could face “economic disaster” if it leaves.

French President Emmanuel Macron’s government is among the strongest defenders of the EU and is trying to limit the damage to the bloc from Britain’s exit – and ensure that Brexit does not encourage other EU members to leave.

Mr Le Maire was speaking to a conference in Paris on reforming the global trade system.

French far-right leader Marine Le Pen blamed the policies of the EU for Brexit.

Marine Le Pen
Marine Le Pen (Valentina Petrova/AP)

“If the EU wasn’t what it is now, the United Kingdom would still have been a member of a structure that respects the nations, the people, that doesn’t impose migration polices and deals that have very heavy consequences on our industries and agriculture,” Ms Le Pen said.

She said it was clear the EU wants to punish Britain by imposing “conditions that are unacceptable to a large majority of the people in the UK and to members of the British Government”.

“The idea was to do as much evil as possible to the United Kingdom so that no other nation would rise against the EU or contest the EU,” she said.