Obama facing furious backlash from Leave campaigners after pro-EU speech

Barack Obama is facing a furious backlash from Leave campaigners after he warned the UK would be at the "back of the queue" for trade deals if it left the European Union.

The US President was branded an irrelevant "lame duck" by leading Eurosceptics, as they tried to shift the debate to immigration.

Justice Minister Dominic Raab was among those to criticise the president after his speech supporting the Remain campaign.

It comes after Mr Obama warned that Britain would not be able to draw up a free trade agreement with the US "any time soon", as Washington's focus would be to secure a deal with Brussels.

He said he was not trying to "fix any votes", and that the referendum was a "decision for the people of the United Kingdom" - but added: "I think it's fair to say that maybe some point down the line there might be a UK-US trade agreement, but it's not going to happen any time soon because our focus is in negotiating with a big bloc, the European Union, to get a trade agreement done.

"The UK is going to be in the back of the queue."

Prime Minister David Cameron said it "make sense" to "listen to what our friends think" when making the decision.

Ukip leader and prominent Leave campaigner Nigel Farage was among those to criticise the president's comments, accusing him of being manipulated by Number 10.

Speaking to BBC Radio Four's Any Questions programme, he said:

Former Tory defence minister Liam Fox added that Mr Obama's opinions would soon be irrelevant, as a new president will be elected in November.

"It will be the next president, and the next congress, who will be in charge of any trade arrangements," he said.

Meanwhile, pro-Brexit former Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith insisted that the UK's introduction of the national living wage would spark a "stampede" to Britain from poorer EU nations.

Writing in the Daily Mail, he said: