Philip Hammond is facing a Cabinet backlash after saying in a leaked conference call with business leaders that the "threat" of a no-deal Brexit could be taken "off the table" within days.

One Cabinet minister told The Telegraph that Mr Hammond is a "rogue element" and accused him of attempting to "bounce" the Cabinet into abandoning the possibility of a no-deal Brexit.

Andrea Leadsom, the Leader of the Commons, warned that taking a no-deal Brexit off the table would be "totally an incompetent thing to do".

A Treasury source said: "It is blindingly obvious to anyone who has read the transcript that the Chancellor was setting out the facts as they exist in response to a question posed by a senior business leader. The hundreds of other people on the call appreciated the clarity."

It comes after a leaked recording of a call between the Chancellor and business leaders, obtained by The Telegraph, revealed that he had set out how a backbench bill could effectively be used to stop any prospect of no deal.

He claimed that next week's Bill, which could force the Government to extend Article 50, was likely to win support and act as the "ultimate backstop" against a no deal Brexit as a "large majority in the Commons is opposed to no deal under any circumstances".