The Mayor of London has hit out at the Government for “ignoring” the needs of businesses in the Brexit process.

In a speech to the British Chambers of Commerce, Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said business warnings over Brexit have “fallen on deaf ears time and time again”.

Mr Khan said: “What we really needed after the referendum was a proper national conversation about the type of Brexit the nation wanted.

“And you – the leaders of our business community – should have been right at the centre of this conversation.

“Instead, you’ve been ignored. You’ve been marginalised, and you’ve had your warnings fall on deaf ears time and time again.”

Mr Khan said businesses had suffered two years of “uncertainty” with the prospect of months, “if not years” more to come.

He said: “This uncertainty has already come at a cost. Businesses are being forced to put time, effort and money into preparing for a no-deal Brexit, rather than into creating new jobs and growth.”

The mayor also said it was “crucial” to have a public vote on the final outcome of Brexit and said the Government should never have triggered Article 50- the UK’s withdrawal bill from the EU – when it had “no proper plan” in place.

He added: “Our national leaders should have had a clear idea of what they wanted to achieve before they started the clock ticking.

“You can’t simply unravel a complex political, economic and trading relationship that’s 50 years old, in only two.”