Dominic Raab’s Brexit negotiating strategy was so wrong-headed he was nicknamed “The Turnip” in Brussels, EU sources have claimed. Brussels sources said that Mr Raab was not the fully-briefed details man or tough negotiator meting out home truths to the EU he claims to be in his Tory leadership campaign speeches.

“The Turnip”, a play on raap, the Dutch word for the vegetable, allegedly "chickened out" when confronted by Michel Barnier over empty threats he made about the Irish border in a “very tense” meeting, according to the insiders.

Mr Raab has regularly mentioned the clash with the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, first reported by The Telegraph, as proof that he has the guts to take on Brussels, where both Dutch and French are spoken.

“Raab never mentions that Barnier called his bluff,” one well-placed source said, “Barnier told Raab that he would tell the member states the UK wanted to blow up the negotiations and didn’t give a s*** about the Irish border.”

The source added, “Raab backed down. He chickened out. Which shows he was a naive negotiator. You should never make a threat you are not able to back up.”