LONDON - British filmmaker Ken Loach told AFP he would be voting for Britain to stay in the European Union on June 23 but condemned the bloc as a "neo-liberal project", calling for a "different Europe".
British film director Ken Loach poses for a photograph after giving an interview at the Institute Francais in London, on June 8, 2016
"I think for the left it's a very difficult decision," the 79-year-old director, an outspoken leftist, said in an interview in London on the sidelines of the Wednesday showing of a new documentary about his career.
"The European Union as it stands is a neo-liberal project. It demands privatisations and what it has done to Greece is appalling," he said, speaking just weeks after he won the prestigious Palme d'Or prize at the Cannes film festival.
"But if we leave, then we'll be faced with a very right-wing government led by two far-right politicians, Gove and Johnson," he said referring to Justice Secretary Michael Gove and former mayor of London Boris Johnson, both leading Brexit campaigners.
The two have been mentioned as possible successors to Prime Minister David Cameron, the leading "Remain" campaigner, if he is forced to resign in case of Britain voting to leave the EU on June 23.
"That will be even more further down the road of neo-liberal politics," warned Loach whose films often focus on the lives of working-class Britons and who founded the small anti-austerity Left Unity party in 2013.
"My position is, like many on the left, that we will vote to stay in but with a very critical attitude of the EU and we want another Europe, a different Europe," he said, speaking at the French Institute.
"It's not a vote in support of this current (EU) policy," said Loach, who won the Cannes festival's top prize for the second time for his moving drama "I, Daniel Blake" about the shame of poverty in austerity-hit Europe.
- 'A different Europe' -
Loach's position on the referendum echoes that of Britain's main opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, who has been criticised by some party members for being too ambiguous on the issue of EU membership.
A veteran socialist and lifelong eurosceptic, Corbyn is highly critical of EU policies but has warned that a British exit from the EU under a Conservative government would be a "disaster" for workers' rights.
Asked whether he could envisage a different kind of European Union, Loach said: "It's possible but it's a question of political strength and leadership.
"The left perspective of a different Europe based on a common leadership, planned economy, protection of the environment, that case isn't being heard," he said, pointing to the current debates about EU reform as mainly centred on right-wing policies.
Loach said he was particularly interested in the success of Spain's Podemos, which is heading up a far-left coalition that is poised to beat the long-established Socialists in June 26 elections.
- 'Cruelty' of austerity -
"If Podemos do well, that would be another voice to attack the Cameron, Merkel, Hollande leadership" in Europe, he said, referring to German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande.
He said he was also looking at the bitter standoff between the government and trade unions over labour market reforms in France.
"I think the French workers who are now in dispute, if they are strong, that can be a big victory for the working class across Europe," he said.
He said similar reforms already carried out in Britain meant there was now "no job security for working class jobs".
Loach's win at Cannes was a major upset in favour of the left-wing director, who turns 80 next month and is known for shining a light on the downtrodden.
"I think what was important for us is that for the festival and the jury to endorse this film has a political significance because it's a film about the cruelty of the austerity programmes," he told AFP.
The world of work -- or the lack of it -- has long been the favourite theme of the veteran director, a stalwart of English social realist cinema alongside director Mike Leigh and Stephen Frears.
He memorably visited the subject in 1991 with "Riff-Raff", which explored the lives of casual workers in London.
"Bread & Roses" recounted a strike by cleaning staff at a Los Angeles hotel, and "The Navigators" (2001) followed five rail workers as their industry undergoes privatisation.
The documentary about his life -- "Versus, the Life and Films of Ken Loach" was released in Britain last week.