Boris Johnson and Dominic Raab are warning world leaders against "compounding the harm" of coronavirus with "damaging protectionism", after Germany accused Donald Trump's regime of "modern piracy" over the alleged interception of protective medical equipment bound for Berlin.

In an article for The Telegraph, Mr Raab states that international "team-work" is essential to tackle the pandemic, as he reveals that he, the Prime Minister and Liz Truss, the Trade Secretary had been pressing world leaders to keep trade routes open.

The intervention comes after a report by Global Trade Alert, a Swiss group, warned last month that 54 governments had introduced 46 export curbs on medical supplies since the beginning of the year. On Friday, Andreas Geisel, Berlin’s interior minister, said that a shipment of face masks from 3M, a US-based firm, had been “confiscated” in Bangkok and never reached Berlin from China, where they were manufactured. The company said it did not recognise the reports.

Mr Geisel said: “We consider that an act of modern piracy. You don’t treat your transatlantic partners like that.”