Nigel Farage: Brexit is a 'seismic result' for global politics

Nigel Farage and Marine Le Pen have warned that Brexit vote will trigger referenda across EU.

Nigel Farage addressing the European Parliament on Brexit | Photo credit: European Parliament audiovisual

By Rajnish Singh

Rajnish Singh is Political Engagement Manager at Dods

29 Jun 2016


During a special European Parliament debate following the shock Brexit referendum result, Ukip leader Nigel Farage told his fellow MEPs, "Isn't it funny that when I first I came here 17 years ago to lead the UK out of the EU, you laughed at me. Now you are no longer laughing at me. "

In a celebratory speech, during which he was often booed and jeered, he accused deputies and Commissioners of not accepting the referendum result, saying that the EU, "as a political project, [is] in denial. You are in denial that your currency is failing."

For Farage, the main reason the UK voted out is that Brussels has, "by stealth, by deception, without ever telling the truth to the British… imposed upon them a political union."


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Accusing his colleagues of "never having had a proper a job in their lives", he said, "What happened last Thursday was a remarkable result. It was a seismic result, not just for British politics, but for European politics [and] perhaps even for global politics too."

He added, "the little people… rejected the multinationals, they rejected the merchant banks, and they rejected big politics, and they said, 'we want our country back'."

He also predicted that the British referendum could trigger a domino effect across Europe. "The UK is not going to be the last member state to leave the EU and to take back their independence."

Farage agreed that Britain should not wait too long to trigger article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty - the legal process by which the UK leaves the EU - but called for "proper and adult discussions" concerning future negotiations.

He warned that if a non-tariff agreement is not achieved, the consequences would be worse for the EU than for the UK. "If tariffs are introduced between the EU and the UK, 100,000 German car workers can lose their jobs."

The Eurosceptic leader called on the EU to allow the UK split away in a "sensible manner and let us peruse our future to trade with the rest of the world."

Marine Le Pen, leader of France's right wing Eurosceptic party Front National, congratulated the UK for voting out and said the result sent a message from the British public, "telling the EU where to get off".

She said, "EU propagandists should put away their sulky faces and rejoice in the emancipation of the people. The national patriots in the UK should be celebrated across Europe."

She called on the EU to "respect the will of the British people," and warned against 'more Europe' as called for by ALDE group leader Guy Verhofstadt. "If you go against the will of the people, I guarantee the EU will collapse," she said.

Diane Dodds, Northern Ireland deputy for the Democratic Unionist Party, who supported Leave, accused the EU of having a "deaf ear to the people of Europe," and called on the EU to now listen.

She added that the result "does not make the British any less European," advocating for a new era in UK-EU relations, "where the UK and EU can work closely and calmly with each other."

 

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