Brexiteer Ben Habib has poked fun at the EU after a trainload of MEPs briefly ended up in Disneyland after taking a wrong turn on the way to Strasbourg, quipping: “I always knew the European Parliament was a Mickey Mouse outfit.”
The bloc charters monthly trains exclusively for its members to ferry them between Brussels and the city in the east of France, which is the EU’s second base.
The monthly shuttle service between Brussels and Strasbourg has long been a source of controversy, not least because it costs £90million a year to run.
However, on the latest occasion, having left from Brussels Midi Airport, the train travelled to Charles de Gaulle Airport and from there to Disneyland Paris, resulting in a 45-minute delay.
Mr Habib, who is himself a former Brexit Party MEP who served alongside Nigel Farage in Brussels, could scarcely contain his glee.
He told Express.co.uk: “I always knew the European Parliament was a Mickey Mouse outfit.
“Totally fitting therefore that they moved to Disneyland!”
Property developer Mr Habib continued: “More accurately, it was the train carrying utterly useless and overpaid MEPs on their entirely unnecessary and vastly expensive monthly ritual move from Brussels to Strasbourg, that took a wrong turn to fantasy land.
“Perhaps a Freudian slip by its driver?
“Whatever the cause, they should have stayed there.
“Instead of performing animation on the stage of a fig leaf democracy, they could have provided entertainment for scores of children.”
Dutch MEP Samira Rafaela shared a picture of herself and colleague Mohammed Chahim in the train’s cafe carriage, commenting: “Team Disneyland.”
German MEP Daniel Freund joked: “We are NOT a Mickey Mouse Parliament.”
Meanwhile, French MEP Emmanuel Foulon, suggested the European Parliament should pinch Disney’s catchphrase, “Where dreams come true.”
One unnamed EU official told Politico: “We couldn’t get out, sadly.”
Another added: “The driver had to go to the other end of the train, restart it and travel in the other direction.”
A EU study published in 2013 indicated that the cost of the monthly move from Brussels to Strasbourg totalled roughly £90million annually.
The latest incident is not the first time the service has hit the headlines.
In 2018, hundredss of MEPs were left stranded after a train broke down just 15 minutes from Strasbourg.
British Liberal Democrat MEP Catherine Bearder tweeted: “No AC, no water, no food left (Don’t ask about loos).”
Julia Reda, MEP for Germany’s Piraten Partei, raged: “This is ridiculous.
“If the charter train to Strasbourg breaks down, all work in the European Parliament breaks down.
“What a tremendous waste of resources and an affront to common sense!”
