You won’t survive without us, boasts bureaucrat

A BRUSSELS bureaucrat claims that Britain is too small to defend itself outside the EU.

Nathalie Tocci, who is the special adviser to European foreign affairs commissioner Federica Mogherini, said the UK needs to be involved in the new European defence force.

The remarks came on a day when European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker appeared to threaten Britain in a speech in the European Parliament, where he said it would “regret” voting for Brexit.

Speaking at a Royal United Services Institute meeting in London, Dr Tocci said: “There is a debate to be had in the UK about looking beyond what does it mean to take back control.

“Because size matters and the UK is a small country in the world. This is the aspect which so jarred the Brexit debate, a realisation of how small we all are. How small and decreasingly influential we will be and only by acting together we can gain control.”

Her comments appeared to ignore that Britain makes up more than 30 per cent of the EU’s military and more than 40 per cent of its military research. MP Jacob Rees-Mogg said: “The EU adviser has it the wrong way round. Europe needs the UK as the bulwark of its defence. Except for France the rest of the EU are non-starters in defence terms.”

Meanwhile, Mr Juncker launched a new attack on Britain, drawing battle lines on the future of trade.

He was cheered by Eurosceptic MEPs as he noted Brexit was due next year. Responding to them, he said the time would come “when you will regret your decision”.