MEP's car crash interview as he tries to explain plan to let Britons BUY EU citizenship
A LIBERAL MEP who has proposed a scheme allowing British citizens to pay for EU citizenship rights post-Brexit was brutally taken apart in a car crash radio interview.
MEP calling for optional EU membership for Brits taken to task
Charles Goerens, a Luxembourgish MEP, wants to allow ex-EU citizens to have the same rights of freedom of movement as other EU members.
But in a farcical attempt to explain his policy to Nick Ferrari the eurocrat could not explain basic details like how much the scheme would cost.
After asking about how Mr Goerens’ proposal would work in regards to setting up a business overseas, the MEP’s response was truly astounding.
“You ask too many details,” he told Ferrari on LBC.
Nick Ferrari took apart MEP Charles Goerens
“Isn’t detail important here,” replied the baffled LBC host.
“Yes detail is important,” conceded the MEP before he gave a rambling monologue about how there is a long way to go before his proposal becomes law.
He said his proposal is aimed at “improving the functioning of the European Union”.
“It is a long-lasting process,” Mr Goerens continued. “First of all we need to act in order to make this idea accepted by the European Parliament.
“It is too early to have any details.”
Guy Verhofstadt, the European Parliament's chief negotiator, has thrown his weight behind the plan
You ask too many details
Sarcastically Ferrari replied: “It is too early to have any idea about it, it is asking a lot. It takes a long time and requires a lot of talking.”
Brexiteers have reacted angrily to Mr Goerens’ proposals, with some likening it to “sticking two fingers up” to the British public after they voted to leave the EU.
"This amendment is sticking two fingers up to the majority of voters in this country by saying the EU can control our borders even after Brexit and British citizenship can be superseded,” Ukip MEP Bill Etheridge told Express.co.uk.
Guy Verhofstadt, the European Parliament’s top negotiator, has thrown his support behind the scheme.
"Many say 'we don't want to cut our links’,” he said.
“I like the idea that people who are European citizens and saying they want to keep it have the possibility of doing so," he told the Times.
Andrew Bridgen, a pro-Brexit MP, said Mr Verhofstadt's comments were designed to divide Britons and undermine June's vote to leave the EU.
"The truth is that Brussels will try every trick in the book to stop us leaving," he said.