Boris Johnson compares Brexit to the torment of having a liver pecked out by an eagle

Prometheus was chained to a rock as an eagle which pecked out his liver every day for eternity.

The Vote Leave organiser went on to compare MPs to the Greek god Zeus who left Prometheus on a rock and sent an eagle to eat his liver again and again.

He told the UN General Assembly in New York: “It is a trope as old as literature, that any scientific advance is punished by the Gods.

“When Prometheus brought fire to mankind in a tube of fennel as you may remember.

“Zeus punished him by chaining him to a rock while his liver was pecked out by an eagle.

“And every time his liver regrew – the eagle came back and pecked it again.

To bemusement from his audience, he continued: “And this went on forever, a bit like the experience of Brexit in the UK.

“If some of our parliamentarians had their way.”

Johnson’s comments came after a long day in the US – which started with a rude awakening after the Supreme Court ruled his prorogation null and void.