Britain would be “bonkers” to leave the EU, film maker Michael Moore said as he threw his support behind Jeremy Corbyn becoming Prime Minister.
The American director said it was not his place to tell the British people how to vote, but accused Brexit supporters of throwing tantrums ahead of the referendum later this month.
Michael, 62, in the UK promoting his latest film Where To Invade Next, called Britain “toxic” for considering leaving the EU and electing a Conservative government.
He said: “You’re an island, your island is part of a greater world and to want to separate yourselves from that world, it seems a little bonkers to us, but it is your thing.”
He added: “Don’t you feel you still have something to offer Europe? Be the leaders you have been and are. Get more involved, not pick up our little toys and go home and sit on our little island.
“You saved Europe. Europe today is a large part because of you, the UK. You sacrificed and suffered in the ’30s and ’40s to save Europe. Why would you want to leave?”
Michael Moore called Jeremy Corbyn “atonement” for Tony Blair (Gareth Fuller/PA)
Michael, a long-time supporter of Democratic party presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, called last year’s election of Corbyn as Labour leader atonement for electing Tony Blair.
He said: “It’s incredible. When I saw that the party here had elected Corbyn, ‘I thought ‘wow’. Talk about atonement for Blair.
“That’s getting back to Labour in its roots.”
He added that he wished the late left-wing Labour MP Tony Benn was “still around” to see the possible election of Corbyn as Prime Minister in 2020.
Michael is promoting his new documentary Where To Invade Next (Joel Ryan/AP/PA)
The documentary maker also called on Britons as the “masters” of satire to “bring down” Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump when he visits the UK later this month.
Controversial Trump arrives in the UK on June 24 – the same day Britain will learn the result of the referendum on the EU.
Asked what he thought of the visit, Michael said: “You’re actually going to let him in?”
He then added: “I hope satire is what brings Donald Trump down, and you could do a little bit of that while he’s here. Because aren’t you guys the masters of this? The originators.”
Britain has been called on to “bring down” Trump with satire when he arrives later this month (Seth Perlman/AP)
Where To Invade Next, which arrives in UK cinemas on Friday, argues for the United States to borrow social and political ideas from countries in Europe and North Africa.
In the film, Michael visits several countries including France and Portugal but not Britain.
He said: “It was a conscious and purposeful decision to not go to the UK, with all due respect. We didn’t feel there was anything left to learn here, and you have given up on yourselves to such a degree.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article