Right-wing nutjobs. The idea oozed out of russia, was picked up by the Brexit/Cambridge Analytica cabal/MAGA fascists/Qanon cultists and that's where it comes from.
It was not ever based in any fact, reasoning, ideal, or true belief.
Paris' mayor, Anne Hidalgo, is incredibly unpopular in the rest of the Parisian Metropolitan Area (whose government is right-wing under Valérie Pécresse). Much of these areas are still car-dependent beyond belief with bad-to-awful public transit, meaning they are progressively getting cut-off from car-hostile Paris. Paris is completely unaffordable to live in, so it is normal for the working class to have a 1h+ commute into Paris.
This understandably breeds resentment from most people who have never heard of the term "induced demand" or think that the lack of rail transit it Hidalgo's fault.
All the old UKIP boys who, having finally achieved their lifelong dream of decimating the British export economy, will have inevitably turned their attentions to other equally worthy and progressive causes, such as bringing back smoking in pubs.
