Theresa May 'has the backing of all of us', says minister after marathon Cabinet meeting

Theresa May "has the backing of all of us", a minister has said after the Prime Minister chaired a marathon two-and-a-half hour Cabinet meeting. 

David Gauke expressed his support for Mrs May after she briefed ministers on her keynote speech in Florence, which she will deliver tomorrow. 

Among the last to leave the meeting were Chancellor Philip Hammond and Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, who walked out together in an apparent show of unity amid reports of disagreements over Britain's future relationship with the EU.

It comes after Mr Johnson was accused of undermining Mrs May's Brexit strategy when he set out his own vision in an unauthorised 4,200-word article in The Telegraph last week.

Mrs May's former chief of staff also warned last night that the Treasury's reluctance to even "mention the positives" of leaving the European Union risks Britain getting a bad Brexit deal. 

She arrived back in the UK this morning after attending the United Nations General Assembly in New York and headed straight to No 10 to chair the special session of Cabinet.

Mrs May set out details of her address in Florence on Friday, seen as crucial if the talks in Brussels with the EU's chief negotiator Michel Barnier are to move forward to discuss a free trade deal once Britain has left the bloc.

Reports suggest that she will seek to reassure EU leaders the UK will honour its existing financial obligations after Brexit.

Although it is not thought that she will state an actual figure, it has been reported she is willing to pay between £20 billion and £30 billion into EU coffers as the price of Britain's "divorce" bill.

Mr Barnier has been demanding greater clarity from the UK on the financial settlement if the talks are to move forward on to a future trade deal.