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Irish Mirror
Irish Mirror
National
Nicola Bartlett

Irish MEP Mairead McGuinness cuts off Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage after flag waving stunt during final EU speech

An Irish MEP cut off Nigel Farage during the Brexit Party leader's farewell speech in the European Parliament.

Mr Farage and his MEPs waved Union Jack flags as he addressed colleagues for the last time before the body voted for the Withdrawal Agreement that should see Britain exit the EU.

He said: "I know you want to ban our flags but we are going to wave you goodbye and will look forward in the future to working with you as sovereign..." before his microphone was cut off.

Fine Gael's Mairead McGuinness, the parliament's vice-president, told him: "If you disobey the rules, you get cut off. Could we please remove the flags?"

As Brexit Party MEPs gave three hip hip hoorays, she added: “Please sit down, resume your seats, put your flags away. You’re leaving and take them with you.”

The outspoken politician used his final EU speech to slam the institutions and said that the Brexit Party "hate the EU but do not hate Europe".

Referring to the Holocaust Memorial, MEP McGuinness added: "Given what we listened to just before this, we should not hate anyone or any nation."

An ebullient Mr Farage said the UK "is never coming back" during his speech.

"This is it, the final chapter, the end of the road, a 47-year political experiment that the British frankly have never been very happy with," the Brexit Party MEP said.

"I'm not particularly happy with the agreement we're being asked to vote on tonight but Boris has been remarkably bold in the last few months and, Ms Von Der Leyen, he's promised us there will be no level playing field and on that basis I wish him every success in the next round of negotiations.

"What happens at 11pm this Friday, January 31 2020, marks the point of no return, once we've left we are never coming back and the rest, frankly, is detail.

"We are going, we will be gone and that should be the summit of my own political ambitions."

He said the UK had shown it was "too big to bully" by sticking to the result of the Brexit referendum.

"I want Brexit to start a debate across the rest of Europe," he said.

"I'm hoping this begins the end of this project. It's a bad project, it isn't just undemocratic it's anti-democratic."

Mr Farage added: "There is a historic battle going on now across the West - in Europe, America and elsewhere.

"It is globalism against populism. And you may loathe populism, but I'll tell you a funny thing - it's becoming very popular.

"And it has great benefits. No more financial contributions, no more European Court of Justice, no more common fisheries policy, no more being talked down to, no more being bullied, no more Guy Verhofstadt."

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