Britain’s markets are likely to be hit because of political uncertainty, but London should not rely on EU help if it suffers a financial crisis, the head of the French financial markets watchdog has announced.

Jean-Pierre Jouyet, who was European affairs minister from 2007-2008, told Europe 1 radio that Britain’s refusal to sign up to a $1trn package to stabilise the euro showed that the EU had now fragmented into three distinct groups.

“There is not a two speed Europe but a three speed Europe. You have Europe of the euro, Europe of the countries that understand the euro … and you have the English,” he said.

“The English are very certainly going to be targeted given the political difficulties they have. Help yourself and heaven will help you. If you don’t want to show solidarity to the eurozone, then let’s see what happens to the United Kingdom,” he added.

Against the backdrop of political uncertainty, London told its EU partners that it would not provide support for the euro, which has been battered by the Greek debt crisis.

The move clearly irritated some French officials, who have been quick to point out that both Poland and Sweden, which are not in the eurozone, agreed to help finance a 60bn euro stabilisation fund for eurozone states in difficulty.