Jean-Claude Juncker mocked Britain’s divided Cabinet after the resignation of David Davis and Boris Johnson as EU diplomats compared the two men to “rats fleeing a sinking ship” in a “flight of the Brexiteers”.

Mr Juncker, the president of the European Commission, was asked about the twin walkouts in Brussels on Monday. He answered sarcastically, “This clearly proves that at Chequers there was a big unity of views in the British Cabinet.”

Standing by Mr Juncker was Donald Tusk, the president of the European Council, who suggested that Brexit could still be reversed.

He said, “Politicians come and go, while the problems they have created for their people remain.

"The mess caused by Brexit is the biggest problem in the history of EU-UK relations and it is still very far from being solved with or without Mr Davis.”

Mr Tusk later raised the possibility of a Brexit U-turn on Twitter, "I can only regret that the idea of Brexit has not left with Davis and Johnson. But... who knows?"