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'Not adieu, only au revoir' - Verhofstadt predicts UK will rejoin as MEPs vote on Brexit agreement: live news
'Not adieu, only au revoir' - Verhofstadt predicts UK will rejoin as MEPs vote on Brexit agreement: live news
(32 minutes later)
Rolling coverage of the day’s political developments as they happen
Rolling coverage of the day’s political developments as they happen
Back in the European parliament Naomi Long, the Alliance MEP from Northern Ireland, says she will vote against the withdrawal agreement. That is to express her constituents’ opposition to Brexit. She says she will never agree with this “insular, isolationist and reckless course of action”. But she says she wants to thank Michel Barnier for ensuring that the withdrawal does not involve a hard Brexit.
Barnier says it is possible to be a European over and above being a patriot. That can give additional force to national patriotism, he says.
She ends by saying she expects Brexit to be reversed. “Goodbye for now,” she says.
Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, is concluding the debate. He says it has been a moving debate. The EU respected the UK vote to leave, he says.
Fishing communities fear they will be “sold out” in Brexit negotiations and do not believe government promises that the UK will take back control of British waters, representatives of coastal communities have said.
He thanks the contribution made by British MEPs.
Many believe the sector will be used as leverage in the upcoming talks and are concerned that Boris Johnson’s government will buckle under pressure to make a trade off for other sectors including financial services.
François-Xavier Bellamy, a French MEP in the EPP group, says friendship with the UK should continue after Brexit. But Brexit is also a warning, he says. He says the EU must show that it serves all its citizens.
“There is a real genuine danger that they will be sold out and are facing into this with a fair degree of scepticism,” said Luke Pollard the shadow environment secretary at a parliamentary event organised by the fishing industry this afternoon.
Back in the European parliament Martin Horwood, a Lib Dem MEP, says, in various European languages, before ending in English, “we will be back.”
He was speaking a day after the government vowed that the automatic right of EU vessels to fish in British waters would be ended under proposals for a new fishing law.
Turning away from the debate in the European parliament for a moment, Rebecca Long-Bailey has now secured the third nomination she needs from a Labour affiliate organisation to ensure that she will be on the final ballot for party members. The final nomination came from the Fire Brigades Union.
Matt Carthy, a Sinn Fein, says much work remains to be done to in the trade talks. He says Sinn Fein will protect Ireland’s interests, which could be best served by Irish reunification. He says the Conservatives do not have a mandate to speak for any part of the island of Ireland.
That means she, Keir Starmer and Lisa Nandy are now all guaranteed a place on the final ballot. Emily Thornberry is still struggling to get the nominations she needs.
Antonia Maria Rinaldi, an Italian MEP from the rightwing League, says Michel Barnier has been the worst negotiator ever.
In a statement Long-Bailey said:
Bill Newton Dunn, a Lib Dem MEP, says the main parties in Westminster have not told the public the truth about the country. The truth is that the UK is a European country, not a superpower.
Vangelis Meimarakis, a Greek MEP, says the EU must ensure that this does not become a historic mistake for the EU. It must learn from what caused Brexit.
He says some UK politicians claimed the EU was only about free trade. But it was not, he says. It was always about more than that.
Theresa Griffin, a Labour MEP, says young people should “keep the faith that one day we will come back”.
He ends by calling for the establishment of a European FBI.
Esther de Lange, a Dutch MEP and member of the EPP group, says Boris Johnson did not really care what happened with Brexit. But she says the vote is an example of what happens when the media does not tell the truth. She says democracy needs defending; that is the lesson that needs to be taken from Brexit.
The vice president of the parliament chairing this afternoon’s session Mairead McGuinness, not Martina Anderson, as I wrongly stated earlier. I’m sorry about that.
Laura Huhtasaari, a Finnish MEP, says Friday will be a great moment. It will strike a blow against corporate elites. She ends by telling the Brexit party MEPs: “I love you guys.”
Geoffrey Van Orden, the leader of Conservative MEPs, says it is in the interests of both sides to get a good trade deal. After Brexit the UK will still be a leading power in Europe. He says he wants the UK and the EU to have friendly relationship.
Aileen McLeod, an SNP MEP, says she will vote against the withdrawal agreement, in accordance with the wishes of the Scottish people. She ends by saying she hopes the parliament will “leave a light on for Scotland”.
He ends by thanking European parliament staff.
Luisa Porritt, a Lib Dem MEP, says she will vote against the withdrawal agreement on behalf of hyer London constituents who voted remain. She says the only person celebrating this outside the UK are people who want to damage the country. She says young Brits will one day lead the campaign to rejoin.
Plaid Cymru’s Jill Evans says, despite her best efforts, she has failed to get Welsh accepted as an official language in the parliament. She addresses MEPs in Welsh for a bit. Returning to English, she says the UK is leaving now. “But we will be back,” she says.
Anthea McIntyre, a Conservative, says she speaks as the proud daughter of a solider who fought at D-Day. The UK may be leaving the EU, but we remain Europeans, she says.
Caroline Voaden, leader of the Lib Dems in the European parliament, says Brexit is the result of a divide in one of the UK’s older political parties. The Conservatives should have split years ago, she says, but could not because of the political system. One advantage of Brexit is that it might focus attention on the system’s flaws.
Labour’s Richard Corbett says more than half of voters at the UK general election voted for parties promising a second referendum on Brexit.
He predicts that public opinion will continue to move against Brexit. And he says the catchphrase in British public opinion next year will be “Brexit isn’t working.”
Nigel Farage, the Brexit party leader, is speaking now. He says he is not particularly happy with the withdrawal agreement. But Boris Johnson has promised that there will be no level playing field, he claims.
(Actually, it is more complicated than that. Ministers say they will not commit to remaining aligned with the EU. But they have refused to say to what extent they may decide to remain aligned voluntarily.)
Farage says the EU has been very good at getting people to vote again. But the UK is too big to bully, he says.
He says he became an outright opponent of the EU project.
He says the EU is not just undemocratic. It is anti-democratic. It is run by people who cannot be held to account by the electorate.
He says the debate in the world is one between globalism and populism. He says populism is becoming popular.
He says Brexit party MEPs will wave their flags. Farage and his Brexit party MEPs wave small union jacks.
Mairead McGuinness, vice president of the parliament who is in the chair, asks them to put them away. (Waving flags is against the rule.) A few of them do three cheers.
McGuinness tells the Brexit party MEPs to take their flags with them as they go. Some of them seem to be leaving now.
UPDATE: I’ve corrected this post because originally it named the vice president in the chair as Martina Anderson, not Mairead McGuinness.
Martin Schirdewan, from the European United Left/Nordic Green Left, says the UK might not be the last country to leave the EU. He says the EU must put people first.
Daniel Hannan, the Conservative MEP, says after the 1975 vote Eurosceptics in the UK accepted the decision to stay in the EU.
But after Maastricht the mood changed. It became clear that the EU was turning into a quasi-state, with a flag and a president etc.
If at any point the UK had been able to have a trade-only association, it would have stayed.
He says if David Cameron had got any repatriation of power in February 2016, the UK would have stayed.
The EU is “losing a bad tenant, but gaining a good neighbour”, he says.
Philippe Lamberts, co-head of the Green group in the parliament, says there is a reason why people have turned against the EU. It is because too many policies serve the interests of the few, not the many. The EU must fix this if it wants to avoid another Brexit, he says. It should ensure that all policies serve the interests of the vulnerable. And policies should respect nature too, he says.
Nathalie Loiseau, a representative of the Renew group in the European parliament (and the former French Europe minister), is speaking now. She says she is speaking in English because she wants to address the British. She says they will be missed.
The European parliament will ensure that citizens’ rights are respected, she says.
Addressing Brexiters, she says now they will have no one to blame but themselves. They won’t be able to blame Brussels.
But if they think Brexit will weaken the EU, they are wrong, she says.
Iratxe García Pérez, head of the socialist group in the European parliament, is speaking now.
She says, if the British people ever decide to return, the EU arms will always be open to them.
