Theresa May on Monday faced mounting pressure from her new cabinet to embrace a soft Brexit as ministers lined up to urge the UK prime minister to prioritise jobs and the economy in EU exit talks, scheduled to start next week.

Mrs May is being urged to extend Britain’s stay in the EU customs union, even if that means Britain would lose the ability to strike its own trade deals, and to abandon her election claim that “no deal is better than a bad deal”.

The prime minister’s spokesman said Mrs May’s position on Brexit had “not changed” since last week’s humiliating election result, which saw her lose her majority in the House of Commons, the UK’s lower house of parliament. But, he added: “Obviously there will be discussions in cabinet.”