The man in the European parliament who was seen grimacing and covering his face with his palm as Nigel Farage launched into a tirade against MEPs whom he accused of never having done “a proper job” in their lives has been revealed to be the Lithuanian EU commissioner for health and food safety, a trained cardiac surgeon.
Vytenis Andriukaitis, who was born in a Soviet gulag on the edge of the Arctic Ocean and started his political career with the underground Social Democrat movement, has written a blogpost in which he reveals his thoughts during Farage’s speech.
Andriukaitis criticises Farage for spreading “toxic untruths” and “lies” such as the claim that, after Brexit, the money formerly contributed by Britain to the EU budget would be invested in healthcare.
The 64-year-old, who worked as a cardiac surgeon for six years and took part in the first heart transplant operation in his country’s history before moving into politics, says on his blog that in spite of the outcome of the referendum, “I was and still am fully with all the British people”.
“I am with all those who voted against financial speculation uncovered in the Panama papers and with those who voted against unemployment and decreasing standards of living,” he writes.
He says two symbols of the fraught referendum campaign will stay in his heart: the Labour MP Jo Cox, who “was killed because of people instigating hate, chauvinism and phobias”, and the British commissioner Jonathan Hill, whose resignation in the wake of the leave vote Andriukaitis describes as “an example of moral self-determination, taking responsibility and embracing the consequences”.
It was, says the commissioner, a “stark contrast to the actions of some others who personify political hypocrisy”.
Andriukaitis says Scotland, Northern Ireland and London voting to remain shows that Britain is changing and many people want to see a different future.
“The EU is changing as well,” he adds. “For me its future lies in social justice and security. This is the way forward. And only together, with the EU member states, with the European parliament, and with a decisive European council – avoiding the cacophony and constant bashing of Brussels – can we achieve this together.”
