French President, Emmanuel Macron, on Thursday mocked the British politicians he says falsely claimed Brexit would be easy and then resigned to avoid having to deliver on their promises. Macron was speaking after an EU summit in Salzburg at which the 27 other European Union leaders warned Prime Minister Theresa May her plan for Britain’s exit from the club needs more work before a key October summit.
“Brexit is a choice made by the British people and a choice that was pushed by certain people who predicted easy solutions,” Macron said, referring to the Britain’s June 2016 Brexit referendum campaign. “So Brexit tells us something – and it is with total respect for British sovereignty that I say this — it shows us that those who told us that they could easily do without Europe, that everything would go well, that it’s easy and would gain them a lot of money are liars,” he told reporters.
“And what’s more, they left the next day so they didn’t have to handle it,” he added. Macron did not say who he was targeting with his “liars” remark, but Britain’s former foreign secretary Boris Johnson and former Brexit negotiator David Davis, who both campaigned strongly for Britain to leave the EU resigned in recent months during talks on the divorce deal.
Both have also turned against May’s latest negotiating position, complicating her position as she tries to agree Brexit terms with Europe and hold her governing majority together in the British parliament.
