Brazen Brussels chiefs would LAUGH OFF any bid to reform EU, top MEP Daniel Hannan says

A LEADING anti-Brussels campaigner has torn apart claims by Eddie Izzard that Britain could reform the EU from inside the bloc.

Tory MEP Daniel Hannan went head-to-head with the stand-up comedian during a debate at the University of Reading last night.

Izzard admitted the EU is "too bureaucratic" but urged young people to vote to stay in next month and "make it work".

But Brexit activist Hannan said any attempts by Britain to reform the bloc would be "laughed at" by Brussels chiefs.

Izzard, who said he considers himself a British European, hailed the EU as a “good force for change”.

He added: "It's difficult, it's too bureaucratic, I agree with that. I just think we should stay in and try and make it work.

“We have to work like crazy to make it work. It's not easy but I just don't think pulling out is the right idea."

But Hannan pointed to David Cameron's visits across Europe in a "failed" bid renegotiate Britain's EU membership.

He said: "If this is how we were treated now, before we had our referendum, how would we be treated if we voted to remain?

"Any idea that we could stay in and then try and reform it having thrown that part away – it would be laughed at in Brussels."

Hannan also described the EU as "obsolete", adding: "It is a hangover from an earlier age – a relic of the 1950s."

The Eurosceptic added: "I am confident that the economy as a whole will do better outside the European Union."

Izzard is travelling around 31 cities in the UK to urge young people to register by June 7 to vote in the referendum.