The Chancellor has dismissed speculation the UK could pursue a soft Brexit and remain part of the EU’s customs union and the single market on the eve of historic negotiations between London and Brussels.

There have been rumours that Philip Hammond, who backed the Remain camp, would use Theresa May’s weakened authority following the general election to force the Prime Minister to water down her Brexit stance. Last week in Luxembourg he failed to confirm that Britain would depart the single market despite being asked twice.

However, the Chancellor has now moved to quash speculation that he would push Mrs May to abandon the Brexit plans she set out in her speech at Lancaster House in January.

“We’re leaving the EU, and because we’re leaving the EU we will be leaving the single market and, by the way, we’ll be leaving the customs union,” Mr Hammond told the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show, in his first interview since the election. “The question is not whether we’re leaving the customs union.

“The question is what do we put in its place in order to deliver the objectives which the Prime Minister set out in the Lancaster House speech of having no hard land border in Ireland and enabling British goods to flow freely backwards and forwards across the border with the European Union.”