French Prime Minister claims Brexit reduced Britons to TEARS during EU elections campaign
Supporters wave the national flag of France during a campaign meeting of France's far-right Rassemblement National (RN)
Reuters
The French Prime Minister has claimed Brexit has reduced Britain to tears.
Gabriel Attal was been campaigning against French populists who he claimed wanted to follow the UK out of the European Union ahead of the EU elections.
The centrist, liberal party of Attal and president Emmanuel Macron, Renaissance (RE) are on about 16 per cent in polls, behind that of the populist right National Rally (RN) who are on about 32 per cent.
National Rally, the party of Jordan Bardella and Marine Le Pen, has been split on whether to push for a full scale 'Frexit.'
France's Prime Minister Gabriel Attal
Getty
Attal said during a radio interview: "Don’t let’s be [like] the British, who cried after Brexit."
Le Pen has softened her stance on France’s possible exit from the EU after Brexit, which is viewed by most French voters as a mistake.
However, Attal suggested that National Rally nevertheless remained secretly bent on following Britain out of the EU.
He said: "Because the reality is that their programme, at a European level, would mean France leaving Europe."
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Marine Le Pen, President of the far-right Rassemblement National (RN) parliamentary group
Reuters
Attal and Bardella clashed during a live TV debate where they presented radically different views of the European Union, with both accusing the other of lying. They also accused each other of being soft on Russia.
Throughout the debate, Attal aimed to show contradictions and loopholes in the RN's EU policies. Attal said: "When were you lying, now or then?" pointing at the RN's policy changes, over the years, on issues including the euro, which it no longer wants to ditch
"Unlike you I don't want to destroy the single market," Attal said, saying the RN's "buy France" stance would breach EU rules but also harm French businesses, as other EU countries would do the same and prioritise their own businesses.
Bardella, in turn, attacked Attal on Macron's track record at home, also accusing him of backing EU policies he said harmed the interest of the French, on anything from agriculture to immigration, which he said the government has lost control of.
Jordan Bardella, President of the French far-right National Rally
Reuters
Director of Fondapol Dominique Reynié said new polling showed only13 per cent of Europeans want their country to exit the EU, a figure that compares with polls a decade ago showing over 20 per cent support for withdrawal from the bloc.
Reynié told Le Figaro: "What a failure for the Brexiteers … For the populists, Brexit was a victory for nothing. This sovereignty through separation had thus only a tragic destiny."
"Perhaps more than ever, most of the 360 million voters are undoubtedly committed to the values of democracy and the European idea."
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