THERESA PUTS THE BOOT IN

PM’s explosive intervention as she orders Brussels to stop meddling

THERESA May last night accused Brussels of trying to sabotage the general election.

In a dramatic move, the Prime Minister accused senior EU politicians and officials of issuing threats and leaks ‘deliberately timed to affect the result’ of the June 8 poll.

Mrs May, who has been angered by days of negative briefings from Brussels and Berlin, suggested the EU was deliberately trying to scare voters into backing candidates who would water down Brexit.

She warned that Britain would suffer if the EU succeeded, saying: ‘If we let the bureaucrats of Brussels run over us, we will lose the chance to build a fairer society with opportunity for all.’

The blistering attack on Brussels came minutes after Mrs May returned from an audience with the Queen at which she formally confirmed the dissolution of Parliament ahead of the election.

Speaking in Downing Street, she warned that the EU’s negotiating position had hardened in the fortnight since she announced plans for the snap poll.

‘Threats against Britain have been issued by European politicians and officials,’ she said. ‘All of these acts have been deliberately timed to affect the result of the general election.’

Mrs May warned that some senior figures in Brussels were bent on punishing Britain for leaving the EU.

She said: ‘Whatever our wishes, and however reasonable the positions of Europe’s other leaders – there are some in Brussels who do not want these talks to succeed. Who do not want Britain to prosper. So now more than ever we need to be led by a prime minister and a government that is strong and stable.’

Mrs May’s comments appeared to be an attack on European Commission president Jean- Claude Juncker and the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier.

Both attended a fractious dinner in Downing Street last week and Mr Juncker is seen in No 10 as behind damaging leaks that followed the meeting.

A leading German newspaper said Mr Juncker described Mrs May as ‘delusional’ and ‘living in another galaxy’. It said he left the dinner ‘ten times more sceptical’ about the prospect of a deal.

Mr Juncker’s chief of staff Martin Selmayr, who is suspected of leaking accounts of the dinner, stepped up the attack last night.

Mr Selmayr, who is known in Brussels as the ‘Monster’, said: ‘Brexit can never become a success. It is a sad and sorry event.’

Mrs May initially dismissed the briefings about last week’s dinner as ‘Brussels gossip’.

But irritation has turned to anger over the past 48 hours following reports the ‘divorce bill’ being prepared by Brussels could rise from £50billion to £85billion. Mr Barnier said it was an illusion to think Brexit could be painless.

The former French minister said the sum owed by the UK was incontestable. And he warned that the EU would insist on the right of the European Court of Justice to adjudicate over a Brexit deal.

The string of interventions is seen by Tory high command as a deliberate strategy to undermine Mrs May and strengthen her opponents during the election campaign.

On Tuesday, the PM warned publicly that Mr Juncker would find her a ‘bloody difficult woman’ during negotiations. Speaking before the PM’s speech yesterday, he said: ‘I deeply respect her. I like her as a person. She is a tough lady.’ Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn condemned Mrs May’s latest remarks, saying: ‘The PM wants to wrap the Conservative party in the Union Jack and distract attention from her government’s economic failure.’

SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon accused Mrs May of using the EU as a ‘bogeyman’, adding: ‘The UK needs the best possible Brexit deal and has limited leverage, so for the PM to poison the atmosphere for partisan