Dominic Raab has threatened Michel Barnier with the prospect that the EU will be forced to order the Irish government to reinstate the border in Northern Ireland in the event of a ‘no deal’ Brexit, the Telegraph can reveal.

The Brexit secretary confronted the EU’s chief negotiator over the border issue at a highly-charged meeting in Brussels last month, leaving Mr Barnier “absolutely furious”, according to a senior European source.

The angry encounter came in only the second Raab-Barnier meeting and was confirmed to the Telegraph by three separate official sources drawn from both sides of the Channel, and points to sharp souring of the Brexit talks behind the scenes in recent weeks.

Despite Mr Raab telling MPs this week to be in “no doubt that we are making good progress" sources on both sides of the negotiating table have told The Telegraph that on the substantive outstanding questions, including the Irish backstop, progress has been “close to zero”.

UK sources report that Mr Barnier has been “grumpy” in the talks, refusing meetings and bristling at Mr Raab’s more combative approach compared to his predecessor David Davis, using his grasp of detail and background in international law to pick away at EU positions.