The EU's chief Brexit negotiator launched an extraordinary attack on the British government

Reuters

Guy Verhofstadt is back.

This time, the EU Parliament's chief Brexit negotiator has launched an extraordinary attack on British government ministers Boris Johnson and Liam Fox.

Verhofstadt, a "staunch federalist" and long-time opponent of Britain leaving the EU, has been very vocal about how difficult Brexit negotiations would be for Theresa May in Britain.

This month, the former Belgian prime minister tweeted saying the EU would not allow Britain to end the free movement of people and retain access to the single market - the type of Brexit the British public wants and May has spoken about in the past.

Verhofstadt opened fire on Johnson and Fox on Tuesday night. The Foreign Secretary and Secretary of State for International Trade share responsibility for negotiating Britain's exit from the 28-nation bloc.

Here is Facebook status Verhofstadt posted:

Guy Verhofstadt/Facebook

Verhofstadt, rightly, points out how Johnson vowed to support Turkey's bid to join the Union despite citing the prospect of Turkish membership as a reason why Britain should vote to leave during the Brexit campaign.

He also criticised Liam Fox, a hardline Brexiteer who recently suggested Britain would pull out of the EU's customs union, only for May to quickly come out and say this hadn't been agreed.

The relationship between Britain and European leaders has become confrontational in recent weeks.

Wolfgang Schauble, Germany's finance minister, said last week Johnson didn't understand how the 28-nation bloc works and needed to read a copy of the Lisbon Treaty.

Michael Fuchs, who serves in Angela Merkel's government, said he was a "fan" of the UK but added "the British must agree to meet us on an equal footing. They can't simply do what they wish and expect us to go along with them."