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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 happenRolling coverage of the day’s political developments as they happen
Antonia Maria Rinaldi, an Italian MEP from the rightwing League, says Michel Barnier has been the worst negotiator ever.
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.
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.
He ends by calling for the establishment of a European FBI.
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.
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.
He ends by thanking European parliament staff.
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.
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.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.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.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.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.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.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.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.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.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.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.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.She says, if the British people ever decide to return, the EU arms will always be open to them.
From my colleague Jennifer Rankin
Manfred Weber, head of the centre-right European People’s party group, is speaking now.
He says he regrets the fact Brexit is happening.
He says it was the UK’s decision to rule out an extension to the post-Brexit transition. He implies this is a mistake.
He also says that MEPs will not allow any cherry picking in the trade deal.
Von der Leyen says she wants to achieve the best for young students who want to study abroad.
She ends by quoting George Eliot.
Von der Leyen says the EU is considering a zero tariff, zero quota free trade agrement. But for this to happen there must be a level playing field, she says. She says the EU will not expose its companies to unfair competition.
She says the trade off is simple: the closer the UK stays to EU rules, the better the access to the single market will be.
She says British car firms recently asked the UK government to stay aligned to EU rules. This is in both sides’ interests, she says.
Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European commission, is speaking now.
She pays tribute to contribution made by Britons to the EU, in the commission and in the parliament.
She says the EU will be vigilant in monitoring power-sharing in Northern Ireland.
She says she wants to be very clear; she wants the EU and the UK to remain good friends and good partners.
They have a lot in common, she says. They both believe climate change must be tackled as a matter of urgency.
Verhofstadt says he has had hundreds of citizens from Britons wanting to stay in the EU. He says he is not sure what to say to them. But he says what the EU must do is ensure that when the UK returns to the EU, as he is sure it will, it must return to an effective union. He says:
Verhofstadt says some people blame the EU because it did not offer enough to David Cameron in his renegotiation.
But he says his view is that the Brexit process started many years ago, when it started offering countries opt-outs.
He says that led to countries only accepting the advantages of the union, not the disadvantages too.
Verhofstadt says MEPs have to consider the causes of Brexit.
He says the UK voted for Brexit to get sovereignty. But it has to consider what sovereignty it will have if it has to plant Chinese telecommunications equipment all over the country.
Verhofstadt says today is not a vote in favour of the principle of Brexit.
It is a vote against a hard Brexit, and against a disorderly Brexit, he says.
If he could vote on Brexit, he would vote against.
He says what is happening is that “a country that liberated us” twice is leaving.