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Former head of the civil service Andrew Turnbull has likened attacks by Brexiters on the civil service to nationalists' tactics in 1930s Germany.

Lord Turnbull, who was cabinet secretary under Tony Blair, told the Observer accusations of sabotage reminded him of the "stab-in-the-back" myth that arose among Nazis before the Second World War.

“‘Dolchstoss’ means ‘stab in the back’,” he said, according to the newspaper. “After the first world war there was an armistice, but the German army was then treated as the losers. Then, at the start of the Nazi era, the ‘stab-in-the back’ theme developed.

“It argued that ‘our great army was never defeated, but it was stabbed in the back by the civilians, liberals, communists, socialists and Jews’. This is what I think these critics are trying to do."

Senior civil servants are subject to "pre-emptive scapegoating" by those pushing to leave the EU because they fear they are losing the public debate, he said.

"When you don't succeed you find someone to blame for your failure," he added.

His comments came after leading Tory Brexiteer Jacob Rees-Mogg stepped up his attack on the Treasury, accusing officials of "fiddling the figures" to try to keep Britain in the EU customs union.

As senior ministers prepared to discuss Britain's future relationship with the EU, Mr Rees-Mogg, chairman of the influential pro-Brexit European Research Group of Tory MPs, said any deal which kept the UK in a common customs area with the EU would be unacceptable.

He claimed Treasury economic modelling suggesting Britain would be worse off in any arrangement outside the customs union was "clearly politically influenced".

It also came as a senior Tory MP accused ministers of being "vague" and "divided" over leaving the EU.

The staunchly pro-Brexit Bernard Jenkin wrote in the Sunday Telegraph to urge Chancellor Philip Hammond to back Theresa May in delivering a "clean" exit.

He said the Treasury has its own "house view" but that the Prime Minister should stick to her policy regardless of internal in-fighting that is now going on.

"If ministers are vague or divided, life for officials becomes impossible, as we can see now. Ministerial collective responsibility really matters," he said.

The remarks come ahead of a week of key ministerial meetings about Brexit.