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In candid remarks the EU Commission chief said UK ministers had repeatedly pointed the finger at Europe as a way of covering up for their unpopular decisions and mistakes. In particular he said the reason EU migration is such a big issue in Britain compared to other member states was because politicians here had actively encouraged people to come in large numbers.

GETTY Jean-Claude Juncker said British politicians are to blame for Brexit

His comments, made on the eve of the bloc’s 60th birthday celebration in Rome, are designed as a warning to other European leaders not to play a “dangerous” blame game with their own voters. Writing in The Guardian, the Brussels boss also said that the EU would actively seek continued cooperation with the UK on a large range of issues even after it has left the club.

EbS The EU Commission chief said the UK had encouraged migration

GETTY But Brussels was obstinate on some issues too, such as David Cameron's migrant benefit reforms

And he did not mince his words in his assessment of how senior British politicians have acted over recent decades, saying they are largely responsible for the growth in euroscepticism. He wrote: “For too long there has been a gap between what people expect and what Europe is able to deliver. “We should not pretend Europe can solve all problems. ‘Brussels’ should not have been constantly blamed in British political discourse for things the EU is not responsible for - we now know the result of such rhetoric.” He pointed out that the EU has virtually no influence over the spheres of healthcare, education and welfare policy which are often so contentious in UK elections. In reality Brussels does hold significant sway over the latter of those three, as David Cameron discovered when he tried and failed to gain minor concessions over migrants’ access to benefits.

‘Brussels’ should not have been constantly blamed in British political discourse for things the EU is not responsible for Jean-Claude Juncker

The EU also enforces a strict free movement policy which technically means, as many Leave supporters pointed out, that the Government cannot control numbers arriving from Europe. However, Mr Juncker’s assertion that Britain has actively encouraged EU migration and in particular an influx of cheap, low-skilled labour from Eastern Europe will resonate. Under Tony Blair the UK was the only major nation not to impose transitional controls when the eastern bloc entered the club in 2004, whereas France and Germany both put up barriers for eight years. Britain also does not implement many of the control measures it is legally allowed to by Brussels, such as requiring people from other EU countries to register with authorities so that accurate numbers can be determined. On top of that, Government statistics show that immigration from the rest of Europe still makes up less half of people coming to the UK every year, although it has grown substantially over the past decade.

Brexit: Results of how the UK voted Mon, March 20, 2017 Much of the North East of the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union including Sunderland, Gateshead, Darlington, Durham, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Stockton, Redcar and Cleveland, North Tyneside and South Tyneside, and Northumberland Play slideshow Getty Images 1 of 8 GREAT YARMOUTH: The town of Great Yarmouth on the East Coast of England voted by 72% to leave the European Union.