Theresa May risks a "catastrophic split" in her party if she persists with her Chequers plan for Brexit at this month's Conservative conference, a former minister has warned. "We aren't expecting the European Union to change Barnier's guidelines, but we hope the leaders will tell them to interpret them in such a way as to make a deal possible", said one senior British official".

At a conference in the Alpine lake resort of Bled in northwestern Slovenia, Michel Barnier said a Brexit deal was "not far" and that some 80 per cent of the withdrawal agreement had been agreed.

But it later rose as MPs within her party said they wanted May to stay in power despite disagreeing with her Brexit proposals.

The toxic atmosphere between the two wings of the Conservative Party was vividly illustrated in the reaction to Mr Johnson's incendiary Mail on Sunday column.

He said Mr Johnson was a member of government at the time and it was "extraordinary" that he was now taking "such an aggressive position". The rift deepened this week with Johnson comparing May's plan to a "suicide vest" on Britain's constitution.

Home Secretary Sajid Javid rebuked his former Cabinet colleague, saying "there are much better ways to articulate your differences".

In Brexit negotiations, Mr Johnson said the country needed to learn lessons from Churchill, who showed "a willingness to be brave" during the Second World War.

Mr Coveney said many would be offended by Mr Johnson's remarks and claimed it was an attempt to undermine British Prime Minister Theresa May. "If it isn't now, I will make sure it is later".

Supporters of Brexit acknowledge there may be some short-term pain for the UK's $2.9 trillion economy but say it will prosper in the long term when cut free from the EU which they cast as a failing German-dominated experiment in European integration.

Across the Commons, Labour too faces a split over Brexit strategy, with Jeremy Corbyn under pressure to commit to supporting a second referendum.

"Of all the years that I've sat in this chair, this coming year is one of the most hard to give guidance on because there is this uncertainty of the Brexit outcome", Associated British Foods finance director John Bason told Reuters. While some Brexiteers are unhappy with her premiership, they see May as their best immediate hope of ensuring the United Kingdom leaves the EU. We have to implement the people's demand to leave the European Union but where that leaves the country in the world and the longer-term relationship is an issue that should be shaped by, for and in the spirit of a new generation'.

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