The Liberal Democrats on Thursday called for ministers to set aside a 7.5 billion "No-Deal Support Fund" to use as financial support for the hundreds of thousands of people who they say would lose their jobs in a no-deal Brexit.
This would pay for jobless Brits to be retrained and if necessary relocated in order to get them back into work. Several European countries created similar funds in response to the global financial crisis a decade ago.
"The Conservatives have made a terrible mess out of Brexit," Lib Dem Brexit spokesperson Tom Brake told Business Insider.
"If they do push the country into a damaging no deal Brexit, in a vain attempt to keep the Tory party together, it will be their responsibility to protect the hundreds of thousands of people who will be affected."
Theresa May is under growing pressure to rule out leaving the EU without a Withdrawal Agreement amid a series of announcements by major companies on plans to reduce their operations in the UK.
Cabinet ministers Amber Rudd, Greg Clark, David Gauke, and David Mundell reportedly urged the prime minister to publicly commit to delaying Brexit in order to prevent the UK from leaving the EU without a deal next month.
A government spokesperson told BI: "It remains our priority to deliver a deal that will protect UK jobs and prosperity and provide certainty for businesses as we leave the EU.
"The Government is accelerating no deal preparations to ensure the country is ready for every eventuality, and as part of this we have launched a business readiness website to complement the 106 technical notices we published last year."
Anna Soubry, Heidi Allen and Sarah Wollaston quit the Tories to join the newly-formed Independent Group.
DON'T MISS: 11 MPs have just their parties this week what the hell is going on?