Philip Hammond's political fightback unravelled today after he was forced to apologise for describing the EU as "the enemy" ahead of crucial talks in Brussels next week.

Following days of accusations that he was seeking to block Brexit, the Chancellor gave a round of television interviews yesterday in which he sought to reach out to eurosceptics by criticising the EU.

However, within minutes he was forced to apologise after Downing Street was informed of the "enemy" comment.

The Prime Minister is now facing growing calls to fire her Chancellor amid fears his repeated interventions over Brexit have helped throw the government into disarray.

The Chancellor insisted he had no intention of resigning after Tory grandee Lord Lawson called for his sacking, and described claims that he is pessimistic about Brexit as “bizarre”.

But his plans to put his difficult week behind him backfired spectacularly in a television interview during a visit to Washington, where he is attending the annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund.

Mr Hammond told Sky News: "I understand that passions are high, I understand that people have very strong views about this but we are all going to the same place.