Philip Hammond has been accused of undermining preparations for a no-deal Brexit “for political purposes” by the prime minister’s most senior aide.

Dominic Cummings said that the former chancellor and Greg Clark, the former business secretary, had blocked no-deal planning because they did not want Britain to be able to leave the European Union without a deal.

Mr Cummings told a meeting of government aides: “It’s clear as we look at the process for no-deal planning that in all sorts of ways the previous government did not take this seriously.

“Lots of ministers, clearly like Greg Clark and Hammond, hadn’t. Precisely because they did not want to — they did not want the country to be ready for no-deal for political purposes. Therefore [they] neglected