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The president of the European Commission told Le Monde that Britain after Brexit would not “be handled gently”MARKUS SCHREIBER/ASSOCIATED PRESS

Britain would be shut out by the rest of the European Union and treated like deserters if the country voted to leave next month, Jean Claude Juncker suggested yesterday.

The president of the European Commission broke his promise to David Cameron not to intervene in the referendum and told Le Monde that Britain after Brexit would not “be handled gently”.

He also urged France to revive demands for deeper EU integration to counter British Euroscepticism in an intervention that is unlikely to be welcomed in No 10.

“Deserters will not be welcomed with open arms,” he told the French newspaper.