Brexit campaigners Boris Johnson and Nigel Farage are “sad heroes” who are guilty of “leaving the boat” instead of developing a plan after standing down in the wake of the Brexit vote, according to Jean-Claude Juncker.
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“The Brexit heroes of yesterday are now the sad heroes of today”, Mr Juncker said. Patriots don’t resign when things get hard.
And Mr Johnson unexpectedly ruled himself out as a candidate to be Britain’s next prime minister last week after being knifed by former ally Michael Gove.
Former London Mayor and a passionate “Brexit” campaigner, Johnson, unexpectedly bowed out of the race to be the next United Kingdom prime minister last week.
Speaking for UKIP during the debate, Paul Nuttall, a potential successor to Mr Farage, told Mr Juncker, “I’m not here to gloat”, and said Brussels and London must now co-operate to ensure the best deal for Britain and the rest of the Union.
“Brexiteers remind me of rats leaving the sinking ship”.
But in a sign of souring relations, several sources in the European Union legislature said lawmakers could block any appointment as long as Britain failed to bind itself into the tight, two-year European Union exit process by refusing to give formal notice it is leaving.
On Monday, Farage, who campaigned for “Brexit” for almost two decades, stepped down as the leader of the U.K. Independence Party, saying he wanted “his life back”.
S&D group leader Gianni PITTELLA (IT) praised the European Council for “resisting blackmail” and stressing that if a country wants to access the single market, it will have also to accept people’s freedom of movement.
The former Luxembourg prime minister, regarded as one of the primary proponents of further EU integration, was forced to defend his record publicly to MEPs at last Tuesday’s emergency plenary session of the European Parliament.
“Since Britain is not exactly doing its bit on Article 50, I wouldn’t expect anything to happen soon”, another parliamentary source said, noting the legislature breaks for summer next week.
Several European media reported this weekend that German politicians are not happy with Juncker’s performance and urged him to resign.
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“I would have thought they would have a plan”.
