THE EU's chief Brexit co-ordinator has described Boris Johnson as “infantile” after he compared the UK to the Incredible Hulk and the EU to “manacles”.
In an interview over the weekend, the Prime Minister, who is due to meet with European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker today, insisted there had been “a huge amount of progress” on talks since he had moved into Number 10.
Though that was disputed by Brussels, who yesterday afternoon said they were still very far away from any agreement over the Northern Irish backstop.
The Prime Minister compared the country to Bruce Banner, the mild-mannered comic book scientist who morphs into the Hulk.
Johnson declared: “The madder Hulk gets, the stronger Hulk gets.”
READ MORE: Brexit: Scotland's request to join EU would be taken 'seriously'
And he said: “Banner might be bound in manacles, but when provoked he would explode out of them. Hulk always escaped, no matter how tightly bound in he seemed to be – and that is the case for this country.
“We will come out on October 31 and we will get it done.”
European Parliament Brexit negotiator Guy Verhofstadt wasn’t impressed: “Even to Trumpian standards the Hulk comparison is infantile. Is the EU supposed to be scared by this? The British public impressed? Is this Boris Johnson whistling in the dark?”
However, Scots comic book boffin, and Hulk expert, Dr Scott Jefferey, said there was some merit to the analogy: “Key to the Hulk is that he is a monster, an incoherent child unable to control his primal rage. So maybe it is a good comparison after all.”
The Prime Minister told the Mail on Sunday he would be using his meeting with Juncker today to talk about the solution to the Irish backstop.
“I’m very confident. When I got this job everybody was saying there can be absolutely no change to the withdrawal agreement, the backstop was immutable, the arrangements by which the UK was kept locked in to the EU for ever, they said no-one could change that.
“They have already moved off that and, as you know, there’s a very, very good conversation going on about how to address the issues of the Northern Irish border. A huge amount of progress is being made.”
READ MORE: Brexit: LibDem Willie Rennie ‘beyond hypocritical’ on indyref2
Johnson has insisted that he cannot accept any deal with the “undemocratic” backstop arrangement designed to avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland by, effectively, keeping the north in the single market.
EU leaders have repeatedly insisted they will not take the backstop out of the withdrawal agreement unless the UK can present a viable alternative.
Last Thursday, the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier told MEPs that the UK had yet to present any “concrete proposals in writing that are legally operational”. But Downing Street has said that Monday’s meeting will not be a “big breakthrough” moment.
In other Brexit news, the LibDems pledged to overturn the 2016 referendum result and cancel the UK’s exit from Europe, if they win a majority of MPs at the next election.
That would mean increasing their number of MPs from the current crop of 18 to around 350.
And the SNP tabled a series of questions in the prorogued Parliament urging the Government to answer a “catalogue of unanswered” queries on the impact of a No-Deal Brexit on Scotland’s supplies of food, fuel and medicines.
Despite the chaos of the last week, a new poll by Opinium for the Observer put the Tories on 37%, up two points since last week, and 12 points clear of Labour on 25%.
Just 17% approve of Jeremy Corbyn’s handling of Brexit, compared to 37% who approve of Johnson’s.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel