British MEPs have hit back at Jean-Claude Juncker, the European Commission president, after he claimed that UK Brexit secretary David Davis was lacking in "stability".

Mr Juncker, the EU's most senior official, suggested on Thursday that Mr Davis was incompetent in a personal attack that escalated an already tense climate between London and Brussels.

According to minutes of a meeting where all 28 European commissioners were present, the EU chief "expressed his concern about the question of the stability and accountability of the UK negotiator and his apparent lack of involvement, which risked jepoardising the success of the negotiations.”