MPs hoping for the perfect Brexit deal were like "mid-50s swingers” waiting for Holywood actor Scarlett Johansson to turn up, Michael Gove warned his Cabinet colleagues.

The Environment Secretary spoke out as Theresa May's senior ministers once again discussed the progress of the Government's preparations for a no-deal Brexit.

During the weekly Cabinet discussion, Mr Gove, a leading Leave campaigner during the 2016 referendum, suggested that MPs waiting for the perfect Brexit would do so in vain. He told colleagues they were "like mid-50s swingers waiting for Scarlett Johansson to turn up".

Amber Rudd, the Work and Pensions Secretary, chipped in by saying: “Or Pierce Brosnan", before David Gauke, the Justice Secretary, added: "Or Scarlet Johansson on a unicorn".

Asked about the comments, the Prime Minister’s spokesman laughed and said: “Next question.”

However, the Cabinet leaks did not stop there.

It was also revealed Ms Rudd had told her colleagues: “History will take a dim view of a Cabinet that presses ahead with no-deal."

She added: "We have to face world in which we find it, not as we wish it to be and we have to deal with the facts as we find them."

The constant leaking from inside the Cabinet underpins how Mrs May is no longer in full control.