COMEDIAN and actor Eddie Izzard arrived into Trafford to help with campaigning ahead of this Thursday’s local elections.

During the interview with the Messenger, Mr Izzard, who is on the Labour Party’s national executive and hopes one day to become one of its MPs, spoke about his views on Europe and on why he thinks the Conservatives have lost the plot both nationally and locally.

He said: “People fought and died for the vote, so my message is please get out there and vote. There’s a chance in Trafford that you can change things, for instance there’s building on the Green Belt and building on the William Wroe golf course, and if candidates get supported we can make a difference here.”

“This is a place where we are targeting the Tory controlled Trafford, three seats in particular Flixton, Davyhulme East and Davyhulme West and if we can get people interested to go out and vote because of cuts to policing, schools and the NHS.”

Mr Izzard is passionate in his belief that Brexit is a road to isolationism and fear of embracing other cultures and has recently launched himself into a round of stand-up comedy in France and Germany, where he talks about the need for humanity to come together.

“I stand where I stood when I campaigned very strongly for Remain and I am now improvising. I have just come from Germany where I did my show in German called Neues Programm – Work in Progress, it’s very difficult to do that but I am developing it in German and developing it in French.

“So I am just going to keep campaigning for a future for humanity. I want all seven billion people in the world to have a fair chance. In Yemen, the country of my birth, they have a civil war going on there and while we are having a tough time in Britain, it not that tough.”

Asked what his biggest problems were with the Tory Party was, he went on the offensive by explaining: “All of it, everything. It’s a shambles. I mean which way are they going, forwards backwards.

“Theresa May didn’t vote for Brexit, yet she’s got to deal with this thing and she went for a power grab and that didn’t work, so the sharks are swirling and she’s a lame duck Prime Minister.

“Where is the leadership? And the idea is that if we pull out we can take back control?

“There has been a referendum and one has to accept it. People seem to forget the first one (in 1975), which was 67 per cent to 33 per cent in favour of remaining. And then the whining Right went on for the next 40 years because that outcome wasn’t right for them; really?

"And then they win 52 per cent to 48 per cent and that’s not a mandate for a future.

“And then everything has got to change, baby out with the bathwater.

“Politicians say are we going to be like Norway, well no. And then Michael Gove was saying Albania was the way forward. And let’s face it, that is not a great plan.

“People coming in from outer space would be saying right now what is going on in Britain?

“And Farage is saying what Trump is saying, same person, let’s take it all apart, go backwards for humanity, isolation.

“It’s not what we do as human beings, we learn to live together to work together in some shape or form.

“Europe is having a tough time and we need to make it work better, not to run and hide from it. I don’t believe that Brits run and hide, we don’t quit. We have just had this referendum about running and hiding

“So we have had two referendums and I think a third referendum is inevitable because I think we need to be at the heart of Europe."