The British are only 'part-time Europeans', says Jean-Claude Juncker

The British are only "part-time Europeans" and never wanted to share all policies decided by the European Union, Jean-Claude Juncker has claimed

The President of the European Commission added that no one would benefit from Britain leaving the EU.

"The British since the very beginning were part-time Europeans. What we need are full-time Europeans," he told Euronews in an interview.

"The British were told for more than 40 years that they were in but they didn't want to share all the policies that have been decided," he added.

Asked who he thought would benefit from Brexit, Juncker said that Brexit would be a "lose-lose situation" for both the UK and the EU.

And he also criticised the decision to hold a vote in the first place, claiming it was a "mistake" to put the question to a referendum.

However, he said that despite the current political deadlock in the UK, he said he still thinks that Britain wants to leave the EU.

On Friday, Prime Minster Boris Johnson said he was "cautiously optimistic" of getting a Brexit deal, but the UK would leave by the October 31 deadline "whatever happens".

- This article first appeared on Yahoo