A grassroots campaign of Tory MPs wants to rip up the deal proposed by the prime minister at Chequers in July

Downing Street hit back at Boris Johnson today after the former foreign secretary said Theresa May’s Brexit plan would lead to “inevitable victory” for the EU.

The prime minister’s official spokesman said there were “no new ideas” in a newspaper article written by Mr Johnson which claimed that a solution could easily be found to prevent a hard border in Ireland.

Mr Johnson also called for a Brexit deal with the EU comprising a “big and generous” free trade deal with “intimate partnerships” on foreign policy, justice and other areas of co-operation.

But in a blunt putdown Mrs May’s spokesman refused to comment on the substance of Mr Johnson’s column for The Daily Telegraph telling reporters: “There’s no new ideas in his article to