The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster made the shock claim after a meeting of the Joint Ministerial Committee (EU Negotiations) (JMCEN) in Edinburgh. After the meeting, Mr Gove let loose on the SNP by saying that the Scottish government had allegedly not been working in the best interests of the Scottish people by refusing to prepare for the UK’s departure from the EU.

The fiery tirade came after Scottish Brexit Secretary Mike Russell said the relationship between Westminster and the devolved administrations had deteriorated.

Mr Gove said: “The overriding policy of the SNP is to smash up the United Kingdom.

“I sometimes wonder if, not just in rhetoric but in policy, the SNP is not thinking in the interests of Scottish citizens first, but are thinking in the interest of their own agenda.

“These issues are far too important to be politicised in that way and I hope that the wiser voices in the Scottish Government prevail in order to ensure that people do act where they need to act, in order to make sure that the sovereign decision that the United Kingdom’s electorate came to is honoured.”

Mr Gove also said that the SNP had promised in 2014 not to have another referendum on Scotland’s independence from the rest of the UK.

Mr Gove said he would “take them at their word”.

The meeting included representatives from Wales and the head of the civil service in Northern Ireland.

Mr Russell said of the meeting: “I don’t think this was better than any of the other nineteen meetings we’ve had.

“Nothing in this meeting improved our relationship.

“There’s nothing that changes the position we’ve had.

“The situation is very difficult and it’s difficult for the Welsh as well.

“We’ve had another change of Government and that has become even more difficult, dealing with people who are ideologically fixated on coming out of the EU no matter the cost.

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“That is a position that we profoundly disagree with.

“The relationship is very difficult, I’ve not hidden that, and it’s got progressively more difficult.”

The Member of Scottish Parliament for Argyll and Bute also revealed that he did not think there would be a no deal Brexit, but instead there would be an extension using the Benn Act.

The extension would then be followed by a general election, according to Mr Russell, but, he said he does not rule out the Government’s defiance of the Remainer Benn Act.

Mr Gove disagreed with Mr Russell and claimed that “progress was being” made on preparations.

He added: “Mike is Mike. He’s a politician, but he’s also a smart guy.

“In the meeting he had some good, constructive discussions about practical issues.

“I always try to draw a distinction between some of the political positionings that the SNP ministers, MPs and MSPs take.

“There are good ministers in the Scottish Government who do want to operate constructively, but the challenge must always be, not just to the UK Government, but to the Scottish Government, to deliver its side of preparations.”

The meeting was the first of its kind to be held in one of the devolved countries and to be chaired a non-UK Government official.

Mr Russell said he would not take any lectures from Michael Gove.

He said: ”We are preparing as best as we can for Brexit, but no one can fully mitigate the impact of the Brexit chaos that Mr Gove’s government is set to inflict on us.

“We would have suggested that he listen to the ‘wiser voices’ in his own government, but Boris Johnson sacked them all and replaced them with hard Brexit fanatics.”

The SNP has never claimed that it has undermined Brexit process in order to divide the UK.

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