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Jean-Claude Juncker has launched his most strongly-worded attack on Boris Johnson yet as he accused the Prime Minister of spreading “lies” during the Brexit referendum.
The European Commission President said he regrets not intervening during the campaign to point out “bulls***” and falsehoods spread by Mr Johnson “and others”.
Speaking to an audience at a think tank in Brussels, he accused some of those canvassing for Leave in the 2016 referendum of “Lying: telling the people things which have nothing to do with our day by day reality.”
He added: “I should have intervened, because nobody was denying, contesting the lies Boris Johnson and others were spreading around.”
Attacking the PM and the media, Mr Juncker said some UK newspapers had spouted “nonsense” and “bulls***,” “day after day” for 46 years.
He ranted: “If, for 46 years. you are told day after day, and you are reading in your papers, that the place of the British is not really in Europe, but that they are there for economic and internal market reasons, and all the rest – it’s nonsense, bulls***. As they are saying in the European parliament – don’t be surprised if voters are asked to give their impression, some of them, a small majority but nevertheless a clear majority, is voting like a majority of the British sovereign people is voting.”
It is not the first time Mr Juncker has hit out at Brexit and key backers of the Leave campaign.
Earlier this week he said Brexit negotiations had been “a waste of time and a waste of energy” for the EU as he addressed the European Parliament.
Mr Juncker said it had “pained” him to spend so much time discussing Britain’s departure from the bloc when he wanted to focus on strengthening it.
As he addressed leaders in Strasbourg, while the European Union assesses a possible extension to Brexit, he bemoaned the time the situation had absorbed.
“In truth, it has pained me to spend so much of this mandate on Brexit, when I have thought of nothing less than how this union could do better for its citizens,” he said. “Waste of time and waste of energy.”
He added his “regret” that Brexit was voted for but said EU leaders could “look ourselves in the eye and say that we have done all in our power to make this departure orderly”.
“It took a huge amount of time to arrive at this point,” he said. “The agreement we have reached addressed this Parliament’s demands.”
The EU is continuing to debate when or if to offer another Brexit extension past the current October 31.
Mr Johnson wants an election on December 12, offering Parliament time until to allow MPs to scrutinise his Brexit deal. He will bring a motion to the House of Commons on Monday, but opposition parties have yet to commit their support.
