Philip Hammond will today begin a Brexit charm offensive across Europe amid concerns that France is deliberately stalling negotiations in a bid to take business from the City.

The Chancellor appears to have been sidelined from a series of major Brexit interventions by Cabinet ministers over the next fortnight.

Theresa May, Boris Johnson, Mr Davis and Liam Fox will all give keynote speeches on the "road to Brexit" but the Mr Hammond will not be giving an address.

He will instead today visit Norway and Sweden, before heading to the Netherlands tomorrow, Spain on Thursday and Portugal on Friday as he appeals directly to European leaders in a bid to make a breakthrough in negotiations.

David Davis, the Brexit Secretary, will next week begin a fortnight of visits to allies in Southern and Northern Europe. The visits have been co-ordinated between the two Cabinet ministers.