London: Tony Abbott secretly met with Boris Johnson two weeks before his incendiary article savaging Theresa May's beleaguered Brexit plan was published, it can be revealed.

The British Prime Minister faces daily leadership speculation and a growing rebellion by Brexiteer MPs and the party's grassroots who fear she will not make a clean enough break from Brussels.

British Prime Minister Theresa May is under pressure from Brexiteers within her own government. Credit:Bloomberg

Mr Abbott released correspondence showing he submitted a piece titled "Brexit - Be happy" on October 2, two days before he landed in the United Kingdom and headed to his October 4 meeting with Mrs May's leadership rival in London. He travelled to Oxford that same day.

In his piece for The Spectator magazine , which was published this week, Mr Abbott accused Mrs May of toying with "surrender" unless she is prepared to go through with crashing Britain out of the European Union with no deal, a scenario remainers believe would have catastrophic consequences and even strident leavers concede could cause the ports to "seize up." Mr Johnson, the former British foreign secretary who is widely considered to be planning a tilt for Mrs May's job, has used the same word to describe her approach to Brexit.