Britain's Brexit leaders have been condemned as "rats deserting a sinking ship" by MEPs.
Nigel Farage and Boris Johnson were singled out as shirkers for their personal decisions following the vote to leave the EU.
In a debate in the European Parliament, MEPs of various parties, across countries vented their anger at the Tory and Ukip politicians.
There were also warnings from across political groups that the EU leaders must heed the lessons of the referendum and reform or the union will die.
The high profile departures and twists and turns in the Conservative leadership battle have stunned European politicians watching from across the English Channel.
After the EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker attacked Mr Farage others joined in but with warnings for Mr Juncker.
The president said: "Patriots don't resign when things get difficult they stay."
Guy Verhofstadt of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats was among the most vociferous in his condemnation.
He said: "The Brexiteers have no clue what needs to be done.
"They are rats fleeing a sinking ship.
"Cameron, resigned, Johnson abandoned and Farage wants more time to himself and his family to spend his European salary no doubt."
Mr Verhofstadt, a former Belgian Prime Minister, said what happened in Britain was an "earthquake" and warned change must come.
He asked if the EU must wait for more referendums in say France or Italy before it acts?
He warned: "More of the same will not get us out of this crisis.
"You are sleepwalking towards disaster, towards 27 other referendums. The union will change or die."
Italian MEP, Gianni Pittella, of the Socialist and Democrat group, said the EU can't wait for the UK Tories to chose a new leader before deciding on the future.
He also criticised the Brexit leaders.
He said: "The heroes of the disaster have left the whole country in ruins."
Gabriele Zimmer, of the European United Left group, said the EU will fail unless it changes direction.
The German MEP also criticised Boris Johnson and the leave leaders for their cavalier attitude to the campaign.
She said: "They have behaved like children, building a tower of wooden blocks to knock them down."
She added: "The EU is not a toy to kick against the wall then laugh at what you have destroyed."
She too warned reform was essential, adding: "If we don't change this EU to an EU of the countries, it will fail."
Others said Nigel Farage, who is due to speak in Strasbourg at the Parliament today, had "shirked responsibility".
Some British MEPs defended the referendum result and added their voices to the calls for change.
Syed Kamall, Conservative MEP, said the more the EU Commission puts pressure on the UK to act on triggering Article 50 to leave quickly, the more it legitimises the decision to leave.
He added: "Listen to those who want politicians to create jobs and growth rather than create political Utopias."
Paul Nuttall of Ukip was jeered by some others as he said the deal between the EU and UK must not put trade at risk, stating Britain was a huge market for French farmers, for champagne and German cars.
He said:" let's conduct this in a grown up manner to get the best deal for Britain and for the EU."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel