A GOVERNMENT minister has warned that jobs would be lost in Bradford if the UK votes to leave the European Union.

Anna Soubry, minister for small business, industry and enterprise, met with around 20 local business owners in Bradford today to mark a month to go until the EU referendum.

The meeting was hosted by the Bradford Bulls, whose owner, Marc Green, is a supporter of the Remain campaign.

Afterwards, Ms Soubry told the Telegraph & Argus that new analysis by the Treasury showed the UK could lose half a million jobs if it were to leave the EU, and Bradford would be “no exception”.

She said: “Every world leader, apart from Putin and that wannabe world leader Donald Trump, thinks we would be better in the EU and we would be mad to leave.”

Ms Soubry also urged people from all walks of life - especially young people - to register to vote in the referendum, saying Brexit supporters tended to be “male and pale and of a certain age”.

Ms Soubry said that in the meeting at Odsal Stadium, the local business owners had expressed a range of views on whether Britain should stay in the EU, and that it had been useful to “have a chat and see what their concerns are”.

Mr Green said his support of the Remain campaign had nothing to do with the Bulls or any of his other business interests.

He said: “I, as an individual, don’t have a single business that trades, either importing or exporting, with Europe.”

But he said he was supporting the Remain campaign for two reasons - the first being “the apparent hypocrisy of the ‘out’ campaigners”.

Mr Green said many Brexit-supporting politicians had been making opposing arguments when campaigning for Scotland to remain in the UK.

He said: “The other reason is I’m always a firm believer that it is always better to be on the inside looking out than outside looking in.”

Prime Minister David Cameron today warned that leaving the EU would be the “self-destruct option” for Britain, as the Treasury published an analysis warning that Brexit would plunge the country into a year-long recession and cost around 500,000 jobs.

But prominent Vote Leave campaigner Iain Duncan Smith said the warning “should not be believed by anyone” as it was “not an honest assessment but a deeply biased view of the future”.