United Kingdom Prime Minister and Conservative Party leader Theresa May drew severe criticism from politicians and others over a leaked tape recording of her voicing her views about the disadvantages of Brexit before the referendum held in June, The Guardian reported. May was addressing a private group of investors at Goldman Sachs in the tape. On October 2, May had announced that the Brexit process would begin by March 2017.

May was criticised by several politicians, including Leader of Opposition and the Labour Party Jeremy Corbyn, of neglecting her own doubts about Brexit, which she expressed during the private meeting. Corbyn said, "The prime minister has given her private views on Brexit to Goldman Sachs bankers, but refuses to give the British people a clear plan for negotiations. It shouldn’t take a leaked tape for the public to find out what she really thinks.”

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The recording that was first released by The Guardian had May saying, “I think being part of a 500 million [population] trading bloc is significant for us. One of the issues is that a lot of people will invest here in the UK because it is the UK in Europe." But as the country's leader, May has taken an extreme Brexit approach including pushing for curbs on immigration. She has, however, been criticised of not outlining her Brexit strategy.

May's spokesperson said, “The PM made a speech at the end of April talking about the risks [of Brexit] and also the opportunities. The British people made the decision to be outside the EU and the PM is now focused on delivering that."

In a historic referendum in June, Britain had voted 52% to 48% to exit the EU. The dramatic results of the Brexit referendum led to stock markets crashing world-wide, and the resignation of David Cameron, who was prime minister at the time. Thousands of British citizens had demanded a second referendum, which was rejected by the Foreign Office.