Ben Habib, a politician and businessman, has branded Prime Minister Andy Burnham a "lunatic" over his proposals to rejoin the EU. Burnham has admitted he will push for new post-Brexit deals with the EU at a summit next month, a move Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch warned risks 'unpicking' the historic deal.
Habib made the remarks while appearing on Jeremy Kyle's TalkTV show, where the conversation turned from the current riots in France to Burnham's plans.
Habib's tirade against the EU
"Donald Trump is right, they open their country and their borders to anybody and anything, and this is going to spread across Europe. Of course, people are concerned about that, and on the back of all of that Andy Burnham wants to rejoin the EU," Kyle fumed. "Well, he's a lunatic," Habib raged. "The EU is squarely responsible for what's happening in Europe in its pursuit of ever closer union."
"It has effectively set aside nation-states. It's removed borders. It's made it possible for people once they're in Europe to go wherever they wish to go," he continued.
"It's heaped regulations on what used to be proud nation-states to the point where its businesses and its people can't prosper. It's heaped ridiculous anti-climate change policies right across Europe. Things that hijack the United Kingdom as well. It's removed a sense of governments doing what's right for their people and their nations," he opined.
Warnings for the UK
"They're all acting in unison for the greater good of Europe, which is actually undermining the benefit that their own people should be getting," he added.
He continued: "And Zach Polanski coming out and saying that no country has a right to exist. Well, what you saw in France yesterday, and what you saw the beginnings of perhaps in Milan and Lisbon, is what happens when countries don't take their existence seriously."
"When they set their existence aside, you get a complete breakdown. You get anarchy, and I'm afraid this is the EU. This is what happens if governments don't take their roles and their obligations seriously. And we've got to wake up in this country because we're quite used to looking across the Channel and seeing the French doing stupid things," he insisted.
"We've watched them do this for hundreds of years. But what's happening in France now will happen in the United Kingdom. It is coming here, and we do not want this on our streets," he added.
France's nationwide unrest
Habib's remarks came as France was plunged into nationwide carnage on Saturday, October 17, as violent clashes between heavy riot police and tens of thousands of demonstrators hit major cities across the country.
Widespread unrest erupted from Paris to Lille and Marseille, with angry crowds swarming the streets over crippling cost-of-living increases, surging fuel prices, and crumbling public services. Thick clouds of tear gas choked major city squares as heavily armed security forces battled to disperse demonstrators who set fire to barricades and vehicles, while authority chiefs took dramatic steps to ban gatherings and shut down key transit networks.
The growing public anger followed weeks of widespread student blockades over decaying school infrastructure, which have now mutated into a relentless nationwide anti-government movement. In Marseille and Paris, violent scuffles broke out near municipal hubs and historical monuments, driving nationwide arrests into the thousands as police struggled to contain the spreading fury.
