The claim comes from Managing Director of European political research at TS Lombard, Jonathan Fenby, who told Bloomberg he met the reluctant response of French people to the Conservative Party leadership contest. Mr Fenby claimed the French Government will oppose the conciliatory approach of the Germans and will be resistant against any change to the Brexit deal agreed by Theresa May with the EU or any further delay to the process after October 31.

He said: “I’ve just come back from Paris and all I can say is that the French are not going to give way to Boris Johnson or anyone else.

“Indeed, some of the people I spoke to in Paris would say ‘Really? Are you going for Boris Johnson now? Is that what we are facing at the end of this long process?’

“And they will be very resistant, the French, to any change in the deal or any new delay.

“The Germans maybe slightly more emollient but you’ve got a strong French position there I think.”

It comes as Emmanuel Macron issued an aggressive warning to the UK after Boris Johnson announced that under his leadership the EU might not get a £39bn divorce bill.

The Germans maybe slightly more emollient but you’ve got a strong French position there

Jonathan Fenby

The French President said any failure to make the payment would be a breach of “international commitments” and that there would be “consequences”.

A source close to the leader said: “Not honouring your payment obligations is a failure of international commitments equivalent to a sovereign debt default, whose consequences are well known.”

The comments come after Mr Johnson launched his bid to become the next Prime Minister.

He argued that the £39 billion coild be retained and used as a bargaining chip.

But EU has warned if a country defaults on its payments, it will be punished by international markets which could lead to a devaluation of the pound, a rise in costs for servicing national debt and lower national credit scores.

Despite this, the Conservative leadership hopeful revealed that unless a better deal was on the table, the UK would retain the Brexit divorce bill until there was greater clarity on the way forward in negotiations.

Speaking to The Sunday Times, Mr Johnson said: “I think our friends and partners need to understand that the money is going to be retained until such time as we have greater clarity about the way forward.

“I always thought it was extraordinary that we should agree to write that entire cheque before having a final deal. In getting a good deal, money is a great solvent and a great lubricant.”

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