Jean-Claude Juncker has said he made a "mistake" in not intervening to challenge the "lies" told by anti-EU campaigners during the 2016 Brexit referendum.
The president of the European Commission said he had agreed to a request by then UK prime minister David Cameron not to get involved in the debate.
His admission came as Theresa May met with Sir Graham Brady, the leader of the influential 1922 Committee of backbench Conservative MPs, amid growing calls for the prime minister to resign.
Sir Graham was expected to warn Ms May that she must lay out a timetable for her departure or face further efforts to oust her.
As it happened...
Mr Hunt said that after both main parties lost ground in the local elections in England, it was a "crucial week" coming up for the Brexit negotiations.
Report backs piloting basic income schemes in UK
‘We have to lead in developing a radical mechanism aimed at eradicating poverty,’ says Labour's John McDonnellTheresa May’s meeting with Sir Graham Brady today comes after the 1922 Committee requested "clarity" about the Prime Minister's timetable for standing down and triggering a leadership contest.
Meanwhile, senior Tory activists will consider the question of Ms May's leadership at an emergency meeting of association chairmen next month.
A revolt against Ms May could become more likely if talks with Labour result in a Brexit compromise which would be unacceptable to Tory Eurosceptics.
Chancellor Philip Hammond, who is in Paris for a meeting of finance ministers, has spoken of the importance of enabling easy trade with the European Union after Brexit.
He said: "The most important thing is that we put in place arrangements which allow us to have as low-friction trade as possible between the UK and the European Union after we have left the EU.
"Of course we should talk to the Labour Party about how to do that."
He played down talks of the Tories splitting over Brexit.
"The Conservative Party is a very broad church. Let's be honest, Europe has been a fractious issue within the party for 45 years but there are many other things that unite us and I am sure we will get through this, we will get beyond it and I'm sure we will go on presenting a broad, right-of-centre offer to the British people that will be attractive to them."
But he acknowledged that the European elections could prove tough for the party.
"The European elections are going to be difficult in the circumstances; the British people have voted to leave the European Union, it's obviously challenging to them go and ask them to vote in a European election.
"But we have to do this, we are legally obliged to do it and we will get on with it."
Yanis Varoufakis: Corbyn should commit to a second Brexit referendum – with one crucial condition
We need to be careful. Those of us who think that democracy is an end in itself should be terrified by the idea of a second referendum that becomes the tombstone of all such votes in the future
Knife crime rise 'linked to youth service cuts', parliamentary report finds
Some councils cut funding for youth workers and clubs by 91 per cent in three years, figures show"I realised that I did what all women do in these situations, I had been putting a brave face on it and pretending that it was all fine and that I can cope."It dawned on me that, for four years essentially, this man had made a career out of harassing me. And I felt harassed.
"I felt 'how can somebody say that they would rape me if forced and be a legitimate candidate in an election?"'
She said it was "one thing when he was just some idiot off the internet" but now "it's a different thing when he is standing on the same platforms I am standing on, that he will potentially go to a parliament himself as an elected representative".
"I cannot believe our system is so weak at the moment that's allowed to happen."
Mr Ball said:
"This case is a world first, it has never happened before. A member of parliament has never been prosecuted for misconduct in public office based upon alleged lying to the public.
"My backers and I aspire to set a precedent in the UK common law making it illegal for an elected representative to lie to the public about financial matters."
Ukip MEP candidate who made rape comments about Labour MP investigated by police
West Midlands Police said it had received a report of malicious communications after Carl Benjamin, who is standing for the right-wing party in in the South West region, discussing sexually assaulting the politician in a YouTube video.
Matthew Norman: Alex Jones is a dangerous conspiracy theorist – and Nigel Farage could share his views
On the cusp of regaining his political influence, why would Farage publicly consort with a self-confessed ‘almost like a psychotic’? To ingratiate himself with Donald TrumpThe Guardian reported that the Brexit Party leader had been interviewed six times by Mr Jones, during which they openly discussed conspiracy theories, some of which have been linked to antisemitism.
Asked if he regretted his appearances, Mr Farage said:
“Since 2008 I've done a huge amount of global media. I’ve done national television in China quite regularly, I have done stuff all over the world.
"As far as the Infowars site is concerned I’ve done it very infrequently, perhaps once every couple of years.
“Because you appear on programmes, doesn’t mean you support the editorial line of those podcasts, broadcasts, newspapers or whatever that may be.
"I know Jones is accused of conspiracy theories and there without doubt some truth of that. I have never been a conspiracy theorist at all.”
He said the new outfit was beginning the process of recruiting 650 candidates to contest a general election.
Formerly loyal Tory donors were "asking themselves the question 'what is the Conservative Party for, what purpose does it actually serve?"', he said.
Asked if he was planning to meet Donald Trump next month during his visit to the UK, Mr Farage said it had been a "red line" for the government that he should not be included in the talks - despite his personal relationship with the US president.
"The then prime minister asked me not to interfere, not to intervene in the referendum campaign," he said.
"It was a mistake not to intervene and not to interfere because we would have been the only ones to destroy the lies which were circulated around. I was wrong to be silent at an important moment."
Elsewhere, talks between the government and Labour to break the Brexit stalemate resumed this afternoon, with shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer saying they had reached "crunch time". Some Tory MPs have warned Ms May that any move towards Labour’s demand for a post-Brexit customs union with the EU would spur the Conservative Party to force her out “very quickly”.
However, foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt called on the prime minister and the Labour Party to reach a compromise after both main parties lost ground in the local elections in England.
The Tories lost over 1,300 seats, while Labour lost 82. Jeremy Corbyn’s party had expected to make gains but voters turned to the Liberal Democrats and the Greens in an apparent backlash against the Tories and Labour over Brexit.
