EU chief takes a jab at some Brexit-backers in Great Britain

BRUSSELS» European Council president Donald Tusk took a swipe Wednesday at some Brexit-backers in Great Britain, wondering aloud what “special place in hell” might be reserved for those who had no idea how to deliver the country’s exit from the European Union.

With less than two months to go until Great Britain is due to leave the EU and concern mounting about a potentially chaotic departure, Tusk, who chairs the meetings of EU leaders, also appeared to dash any British hopes that the bloc would reopen discussions over the Brexit deal that was overwhelmingly rejected by U.K. lawmakers last month.

“I have been wondering what a special place in hell looks like for those who promoted Brexit without even a sketch of plan how to carry it out safely,” Tusk told reporters after talks with Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar.

As the men shook hands, Varadkar told Tusk “they will give you terrible trouble in the British press” over the comments — which, as predicted, drew outrage from British Brexiteers.

House of Commons Leader Andrea Leadsom, a pro-Brexit Conservative, said Tusk’s remark was “pretty unacceptable and pretty disgraceful . ... it totally demeans him.”

Sammy Wilson of Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party tweeted that Tusk was a “devilish euro maniac ... doing his best to keep the United Kingdom bound by the chains of EU bureaucracy and control.”

And former U.K. Independence Party leader Nigel Farage tweeted: “After Brexit, we will be free of unelected, arrogant bullies like you and run our own country. Sounds more like heaven to me.”