Brexit will not solve voters' concerns over jobs, low wages and migrant labour, a former Government trade minister has warned.

Lord Price, who quit his post in the Department for International Trade a fortnight ago, said withdrawal from the EU will make Britain "even more disrupted and even more subject to competitive pressures", according to The Guardian.

He warned that the task of preparing for the UK's new position outside the bloc risks distracting from fundamental challenges facing the country due to technological change.

The former Waitrose managing director's comments emerged shortly after another former minister warned that the "gargantuan task" of Brexit will define Theresa May's time in power.

Lord Bridges, who quit as a Brexit minister in June, told the House of Lords that Britain should continue to pay into EU budgets during a transitional period preserving existing arrangements "as far as possible" until the end of 2020, to avoid disruption to businesses.

Lord Price's first public comments since stepping down as trade minister came when he was interviewed on stage at the Wine and Spirit Trade Association conference in London on Tuesday.

According to The Guardian, Lord Price said he regarded last year's referendum vote for EU withdrawal as "a symptom of people's concerns about their day-to-day problems", including the loss of jobs to digitalisation, the outsourcing of labour, low wages and migrant labour.

But he added: "Brexit will not solve those problems... I think the country is going to be even more disrupted and even more subject to competitive pressures.

"All of these things don't get better with Brexit; in fact, if anything, they get worse.

"No outcome from Brexit is going to solve those fundamental problems.

"Brexit is Brexit, but what are we going to do as a country to make sure it is not distracted and solves fundamental problems so that in two years' time we don't say, 'My business is doing no better, public spending is not any greater, I feel under more pressure in my job than I did before, there is more technology in my job than when I protested six months before'?"

Lord Price, who was appointed to the Government by David Cameron in 2016 and reappointed by Mrs May following the referendum, said he was "pretty committed" to the idea that it was not possible to turn back the Brexit process and that the job now is to ensure Britain has "the most sustainable economy and society".

He added: "I think that people voted the way that they did because they wanted to see change. Whether it is Trump in America, Macron in France or Brexit, people are choosing to vote for someone who they think will solve their practical day-to-day issues. In my view Brexit will not solve them."

In his first major intervention since leaving the Government, Lord Bridges told peers on Tuesday evening that Brexit should be the top priority for every Whitehall department.

"I hear talk of the Government not wishing to be defined by Brexit. But Brexit is the biggest change this nation has faced since 1945," said Lord Bridges.

"To say we do not wish to be defined by Brexit is like Winston Churchill saying in 1940 he did not want his government to be defined by the war.

"Such careless talk costs time, as it allows the machinery of government to be distracted from the task at hand. The priority for every department must be to help ministers get the best possible deal, prepare us for Brexit, and ensure we prosper once we have left. Nothing is more important."

The Government has ruled out remaining in the customs union or single market beyond the March 2019 Brexit date, but Lord Bridges said the existing arrangements should be preserved "as far as possible" to avoid businesses being forced to change processes twice.

Paying into the Brussels budget during the transition process would also help resolve the bitter row over a Brexit "divorce bill", he suggested.

"We should make it clear that we are willing to continue to contribute to the EU budget as we cross the bridge - in other words, between March 2019 and the end of 2020.

"This would help us to address the EU's concern that our withdrawal blows a hole in their budget, we would be honouring commitments that we have made for the rest of the EU's budgetary period, and then the EU would need to justify why we must contribute more than this."

Campaigners for EU citizens to have their rights guaranteed after Brexit were lobbying MPs and holding a rally in Trafalgar Square on Wednesday.

Nicolas Hatton, of the3million campaign, said: "We understand that immigration rules are likely to change. But it is wrong to move the goalposts after the match has started for those of us who are already living and working here."

Unison general secretary Dave Prentis said: "These millions of people have been forced to live with uncertainty about their futures.

"This is despite helping to keep the UK's public services and economy going. The Government must make it clear that their rights are guaranteed once the UK leaves the EU."