President-elect Donald Trump has lashed out at the former MI6 operative who prepared a dossier claiming Russia had explosive intelligence on him as a “failed spy” as Theresa May distanced the British government from the former agent.

Mr Trump said Chris Steele, who spent two decades with the secret service, collaborated with his political rivals to concoct “phony allegations”. He dismissed the alleged conspirators as “sleazebag political operatives”, noting that Russia has denied collecting compromising information about him.

Mr Steele’s status as a former UK spy threatened to cause a diplomatic row, with the Russian embassy in London suggesting he was still working on behalf of the British government to damage both Mr Trump and the Kremlin.

The Prime Minister said in a press conference on Friday that the government had nothing to do with the so-called “dirty dossier”.