A Cabinet Minister has rejected closer ties with the EU as Rishi Sunak faces an explosive Tory war on Brexit.
The Prime Minister was hit by a furious backlash from his own MPs over claims he is considering a Swiss-style relationship with the bloc to ease barriers to trade.
Senior figures are said to be looking at whether the UK could mirror Switzerland in its ties with Brussels but without freedom of movement.
But a Government spokesperson said the claim was "categorically untrue" this afternoon after a swift backlash from Tory Brexiteers.
Health Secretary Steve Barclay insisted he did “not recognise at all” the reports in the Sunday Times - and said he wouldn't support such a move.
"We've got a Prime Minister who himself supported Brexit. I myself did and was Brexit secretary, and worked very hard to maximise our control of our laws, our borders and our money," Mr Barclay told Sky News' Ridge on Sunday programme.
"So, it's absolutely important, particularly in those high-growth sectors, such as financial services, life sciences and the green industries, that we really use the Brexit freedoms we have.
"So, I don't recognise this story at all."
Asked if he could support a Swiss-style relationship, he said: "Well, I didn't support that. I want to maximise the opportunities that Brexit offers."
Mr Barclay admitted there had been "greater friction" to trade following Boris Johnson's Brexit deal, which the ex-PM repeatedly claimed was "oven ready".
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt last week admitted the ex-PM's deal caused damaging trade barriers with the European Union.
He insisted the UK would find a way to improve trading ties with the EU without re-joining the single market.
But Simon Clarke, the Brexit-backing former Levelling Up secretary, waded in to criticise any suggestion that the UK could pursue a Swiss-style arrangement.
The Tory MP tweeted: "I very much hope and believe this isn't something under consideration. We settled the question of leaving the European Union, definitively, in 2019."
Lord Frost, the former chief Brexit negotiator, also tweeted that he hoped if that the report was correct "the Government thinks better of these plans, fast".
Tory peer Lord Cruddas, a staunch supporter of Boris Johnson, said: "This is a reversal of the 2016 EU referendum when over 17 million people voted to leave the EU.
"I am ready to mobilise the Vote Leave team to stop it. We are ready to fight for the Brexit the electorate voted for."
Shadow Work and Pensions secretary Jonathan Ashworth said was "quite something" that Tories appeared to be briefing newspapers that Mr Johnson's Brexit deal isn't working as well as they said it would.
Labour does not want to rejoin the EU single market nor would it seek to adopt a Swiss-style set of arrangements, he told Sky News.
Mr Ashworth said: "We're not proposing returning to the single market or the customs union, or anything like that.
"But we do want to negotiate a bespoke deal for the United Kingdom, so that our businesses can export, so that we can get those agreements on agriculture, so we can work together on security issues."
A Government spokesperson said: “These reports are categorically untrue. This Government is focused on using our Brexit freedoms to create opportunities that drive growth and strengthen our economy.
“Brexit means we will never again have to accept a relationship with Europe that would see a return to freedom of movement, unnecessary payments to the European Union or jeopardise the full benefit of trade deals we are now able to strike around the world.”
