UK MEP (Member of of European Parliament) unleashes tirade against new EU president

[pampango]

Source: BBC

A British Eurosceptic MEP has unleashed a volley of insults against EU President Herman van Rompuy. Nigel Farage, of the UK Independence Party (UKIP), said Mr Van Rompuy had "the charisma of a damp rag".

His comments were made before a shocked chamber in Brussels as the newly appointed EU president made his first appearance before the parliament. He compared the former Belgian prime minister to a "low-grade bank clerk" and said he came from a "non-country".

"Who are you? I'd never heard of you, nobody in Europe had ever heard of you," Mr Farage thundered as noisy disapproval at his intervention in the chamber rose. "Oh, I know democracy is not popular with you lot," he said, addressing the members of parliament as they voiced their surprise. "I have no doubt that your intention is to be the quiet assassin of European democracy and of European nation states," he said.

Mr Farage's party, UKIP, campaigns for the withdrawal of Britain from the European Union. "You seem to have a loathing for the very concept of the existence of nation states," he continued, adding: "Perhaps that's because you come from Belgium, which is pretty much a non-country."

Read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8535121.stm

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For an ultra-conservative who professes to value the nation state above all, he does not give much respect to the nation that the current EU president is from.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_Independence_Party

"The UK Independence Party is a conservative, eurosceptic political party. Its principal aim is the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union.

UKIP want the United Kingdom to withdraw from the European Union which it believes is institutionally corroding British sovereignty.

Although UKIP's original raison d'être was withdrawal from the European Union it was felt that the public perception of the party as a single-issue party - despite issuing a full manifesto - was damaging electoral progress and Nigel Farage, on becoming leader, started a wide-ranging policy review. His stated aim being 'the development of the party into broadly standing for traditional conservative and libertarian values'.

UKIP's economic stance is based on what it claims to be the need for much lower taxation in order to compete internationally, a position reinforced after the election of former leader Nigel Farage in September 2006. UKIP promote economic liberalism. It proposes combining income tax and national insurance into a single flat tax at 33 per cent, which it claims would take 4.5 million lower-paid workers out of the income tax system completely. UKIP also proposes cuts in corporation taxes and the abolition of inheritance taxes."

[muriel_volestrangler]

1. Farage is a slimy toad; for him to complain about someone else's lack of charisma is rich

He's an irritating, smug prick that you'd run a mile to avoid talking to. A UK general election is coming up in 3 months or so; he needed to do something to remind people his party exists (he's stuck between the Tories and the BNP, who get publicity other ways) and this would appear to be it.

[yava]

2. his speech seems like a translation from French of a...

typical speech or brochure from Jean-Marie Le Pen (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Marie_Le_Pen)
Thank you Jean-Marie for becoming speech writer for killers of Joan of Arc, your heroine!

Europe finally unites against... Europe, long live Europe :(

[Wabbajack_]

5. The killers of Joan of Arc died a long time ago

[LeftishBrit]

3. Urrggh, don't remind me of Nigel Farage.

Disgusting RW nut who would fit quite well in the Republican party.

UKIP are supposedly a single-issue Eurosceptic party, but really mainly a refuge for former Tories who are too far-RW even to fit into that party.

I always find the phrase 'Eurosceptic MEP' richly ironic. Farage may hatethe EU, but he doesn't mind riding on their gravy train.

[T_i_B]

4. He's trying to become the next Dan Hannan

Who had a YouTube hit with a rant about Gordon Brown in the EU Parliament.

Best thing to do here is to ignore him if you ask me.