Mr Timmermans, the EU Commission’s Vice-President, also compared the British team to Lance Corporal Jones from Dad’s Army. He made the extraordinary comments during an interview with the BBC’s Panorama, for a documentary that will be broadcast next week. Parliament rejected the Brexit agreement reached between the EU and Theresa May three times, leading to the UK’s EU exit being extended.

Referring to the British team Mr Timmermans commented: “We thought they are so brilliant.

“That in some vault somewhere in Westminster there will be a Harry Potter like book with all the tricks and all the things in it to do.”

However Mr Timmermans claimed he changed his mind after interacting with Brexit Secretary David Davis.

He said: “I saw him coming, not negotiating, grandstanding elsewhere and I thought, ‘oh my God, they haven’t got a plan, they haven’t got a plan’.

“Time’s running out and you don’t have a plan.

“It’s like Lance Corporal Jones, you know, ‘Don’t panic, don’t panic!’ Running around like idiots.”

Mr Davis later resigned from the Government in June 2018 to protest Mrs May’s Brexit plans.

Both Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt, who are vying for the Conservative leadership, have vowed to renegotiate the withdrawal agreement.

Specifically they want the Northern Ireland backstop clauses, which could see Britain trapped in a permanent customs union with the EU, removed.

However European leaders are insisting there will be no changes to the fundamentals of the agreement.

Mr Timmermans also used the interview to take aim at Mr Johnson.

He asserted: “Perhaps I am being a bit harsh, but it is about time we become a bit harsh.

“I am not sure he was being genuine.”

Source: Read Full Article