•Let’s turn the tables on Brexit negotiations by first leaving then utilising the economic strength that Britain possesses to give the EU an economic imperative to speak to the British government on London’s terms, argues Gerard Batten in the UKIP Brexit strategy document released today.
The British economy is as big as the EU’s 20 smallest economies combined. This fact, argues Batten, incentivises the EU to talk turkey with the UK. So let’s seize the initiative and change from being supplicants to the powerful major domo in negotiations.
The British government has got its current negotiating strategy all wrong, argues Batten, and says the UK must seize the initiative and save ourselves a lot of both time and money.
Press Release •Nigel Farage MEP today stressed that regardless of Theresa May’s terrible campaign and pressure from the political establishment the British people still want Brexit and voted overwhelmingly for it last Thursday. He was speaking in the preparations for the European Council debate in Strasbourg and stated the importance of getting on with the negotiations.
Nigel Farage MEP said: “Last Thursday over 85 percent of British voters voted for parties on a manifesto not just of leaving the European Union, but of leaving the Single Market as well. Let me tell you the only certainty in this mess is that we will be leaving.
“Unless Theresa May stands up at the summit next week and at those negotiations and makes it absolutely clear that she’s not giving an inch, that we are leaving the Single Market, unless she does those things her own party will get rid of her and then yet more time will be lost in the Article 50 process.”
• Speaking today in the European Parliament plenary debate in Strasbourg on the European Council’s adopted guidelines for the Brexit negotiations UKIP MEP Nigel Farage labelled Mr Juncker’s behaviour as unacceptable and called for a change of tactics from the EU or the United Kingdom may be forced to walk away from the talks before the end of the year.
Nigel Farage MEP said:
“In any other part of the civilised world frankly that behaviour would be considered to be bloody rude and the act of a bully. Well I’ll tell you something, your attempt to bully the Brits through these negotiations is not working, sixty-eight percent now of the British people want Brexit to happen.”
“Either we get some grown up, reasonable demands from the European Union or the United Kingdom will be forced to walk away before the end of this year. We can’t spend two years with this farce, there is a big, big world out there.”
"MEP Pitera wishes to tell us how to combat fraud across Europe while having written letters at the behest of lawyers now up on a serious fraud charge in Poland. This place is like a circus and that is why people laugh at it and voted for Brexit." - UKIP MEP Jonathan Arnott
Press Release
• The rapporteur on a European Parliament report on combatting fraud wrote at the behest of a group of lawyers, five of whom were arrested on Friday for three months and charged with fraud which cost the Polish tax payer the equivalent of 15 million euro.
Civil Platform MEP Julia Pitera of the EPP group wrote at the request of the lawyers in 2011 to the mayor of Warsaw of the same political party requesting that two named properties be transferred to a specific law firm.
Last week this group of lawyers were arrested and charged by the Polish anti-corruption agency CBA. She has been alleged in the press to have acted as a political puppet of the lawyers.
Today in the European Parliament, the report by MEP Pitera called for greater EU powers, the support for an EU public prosecutor and greater legal harmonisation in order to reduce fraud in EU spending.
The report lays out that fraudulent irregularities cost the EU 637.6 million euro in 2015.
• Responding to comments by EU Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier on the EU's stance with the UK, UKIP leader Paul Nuttall MEP said: "The EU has upped its ransom note from 50 billion euro to approximately 100 billion euro.
"This shows how arbitrary and plucked out of the air their figures are, showing it's all a farce and a big bluff.
"At best it looks like they were taught maths at the same school as Diane Abbott.
"The simple fact is that the UK has paid enough into the EU budget for years and this will be coming to an abrupt end very soon.
"If the EU wants any type of a free trade agreement with the UK, it needs to get realistic very soon.
"If the EU insists in acting like a politically motivated punishment beating squad it will surely fail."
• In response to the European Parliament’s joint resolution from the main federalist groups UKIP proposed 14 separate amendments to protect British interests, from controlling immigration to protecting Gibraltar’s sovereignty. All of these amendments were voted down today with help from Labour MEPs.
Paul Nuttall MEP and UKIP leader commented: “For once it would have been nice for British MEPs to put aside petty party political differences to ensure Britain’s best interests would be served. Needless to say Labour MEPs just couldn’t play nice and voted against protecting Gibraltar from an ever more antagonistic Spain, controlling EU immigration post-Brexit and even to actively disadvantage Britain by not allowing us to pursue free trade deals.”
“I always expected an anti-British attitude from the Euro-federalists but to see it from British Labour MEPs is disappointing. We know their leader won’t even sing the national anthem but why don’t we all start playing for Team GB in Brussels and Strasbourg?”
Gibraltar is not on the negotiating table, let us make that fact clear to Mr Tusk, and we can then hopefully get on with the real task of negotiating Brexit - UKIP MEP James Carver.
Press Release
• James Carver, UKIP’s Foreign and Commonwealth spokesman, today condemned the incursion of the Spanish warship the ‘Infanta Cristina’.
“I find it incredible that shortly after the Spanish Foreign Minister has called for calm, the Spanish government order their warship to illegally enter British sovereign territory in an attempt to frighten and bully the people of Gibraltar” stated Mr Carver, continuing that “I am not surprised, however this is the 100th incursion since 2014, and follows a pattern of Spanish contempt for the Law of the Sea and more widely, international agreements that do not suit their narrow, self -serving agenda.
“Carver agreed with Gibraltar Chief Minister Picardo that Spanish pressure on the European Council to make Gibraltar a pawn in the Brexit negotiations was a ‘disgraceful attempt to manipulate the European Council for its own narrow political interests and a clear manifestation of the predictably predatory attitude of Spain towards Gibraltar’.
“In 2002 the people of Gibraltar voted by 99% to 1% to keep Spain out of Gibraltar affairs. They could not make it clearer that they do not want Spain involved in their internal affairs. Whilst I understand that Spain has only recently embraced democracy they must pay heed to the almost unanimous decision of the people of Gibraltar. And the European Union should not play games with the future of Gibraltar and its people. They need to negotiate with the UK in good faith, not play sordid little games at the behest of a country that has a long history of promoting its own narrow interests wherever and whenever it can.
• Responding to calls from Theresa May today for closer ties with Saudi Arabia, UKIP's Women's and Equalities spokeswoman, Margot Parker MEP said:
"Whilst visiting Saudi Arabia, we call on the Prime Minister to raise the issue of horrific human rights abuse which takes place in that state every day.
"Theresa May must convey to the Saudi authorities that women are not second class citizens.
"To ignore brutal abuses on women and the flagrant discrimination against religious minorities in Saudi Arabia is to condone what is going on in this brutal regime.
"She would not put up with it in the U.K., so why in the Middle East?
"This double standard on her part is unacceptable. People expect better from the Prime Minister of the UK."
"If this is what Juncker calls diplomacy, he needs to take a long hard look at himself." - UKIP MEP Nigel Farage, EFDD Group Leader.
Press Release
•Responding to comments today, by Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, that the EU will campaign to break up the USA if Trump continues to support Brexit and other countries leaving, UKIP MEP Nigel Farage said:
"Juncker has made a complete fool of himself. He clearly does not understand the difference between the EU and the United States of America.
"One was formed by consent while the other is being imposed.
"The US is an organically formed nation with a single language and similar culture while the cultural and linguistic differences in the EU are immense.
I look forward to seeing Labour MPs representing ‘Leave’ constituencies explaining to their electorates why they find it appropriate for us to continue paying billions of pounds to the EU post-Brexit - Jonathan Arnott MEP
Press Release
• Today, Labour MEPs voted against a UKIP amendment that called for the Multi-Annual Financial Framework (MFF), which is due to be renewed in 2020, not to include any UK contributions or entail any legal obligations on the UK regarding its liabilities. The amendment was defeated 558 votes to 83.
UKIP MEP and member of the Budgetary Control Committee Jonathan Arnott commented:
“The Labour Party are ignoring and disrespecting the Brexit referendum result. It’s a wholesale betrayal of British taxpayers and a surrender to the Federalist fanatics.
“They are evidently planning for us to continue footing the EU bill for years and years to come.
I also agree with Frau Merkel for the first time when she spoke about a two speed Europe coming down the line. It’s true. There is going to be a two speed Europe; there’s going to be Britain with Brexit in the fast lane and all you guys going in reverse- UKIP Leader Paul Nuttall MEP
Press Release
• Speaking today in the Strasbourg European Parliament plenary debate on the conclusions of the European Council meeting, UKIP Leader Paul Nuttall MEP urged caution in the midst of the Treaty of Rome celebrations and stressed that despite the motives behind the origins of the European Union being noble, it has evolved into a ‘political monster’ which wants to destroy the nation state.
Paul Nuttall MEP stated: “What began as a noble economic plan has evolved into a political monster, egged on by successive eurocrats who are hungry for ever more power and determined to destroy the nation state and what continues to amaze me is that you never learn. You talk about an existential crisis but you say what is needed is even more EU, you are fiddling whilst the Treaty of Rome burns.”
The UKIP leader also addressed the issue of Turkey by saying, “Turkey under Erdogan is moving towards a theocracy akin to the Middle East, it has nothing in common with the democracies of Europe and therefore Turkey should never ever should be allowed to join the European Union.”
The European Union has no future at all in its current form.
Press Release
• Today in the European Parliament in Strasbourg on the ‘Future of the EU’ debate Nigel Farage MEP pointed out to European leaders that their voters are taking far harder positions on issues than they are. Voters want less Europe and less immigration from Muslim countries, and this will lead to the global 2016 revolution continuing into 2017.
Nigel Farage MEP stated: “But at the heart of it is a fundamental point, Mr Verhofstadt this morning said that people want more Europe; they don’t, the people want less Europe. And we see this again and again when people have referendums and they reject aspects of EU membership.”
“Just twenty percent want us to keep on allowing people in from Muslim countries, which means your voters have a harder line position on this than Donald Trump, or myself or frankly any party sitting in this Parliament and that is where we’re going.
“Let us invite President Trump to come here, to this European Parliament. I’m sure as democrats you’d all agree that what we need to do is to have an open dialogue with the newly elected, most powerful man in the world” - UKIP MEP and EFDD Group President Nigel Farage
Press Release
• Speaking today in a debate in the European Parliament chamber in Brussels on the recent travel restrictions imposed by President Trump, Nigel Farage MEP called on the European Parliament to invite Trump to come and address the chamber whilst blasting the hypocrisy of EU leaders for their criticisms of Trump though ignoring similar actions elsewhere.
Nigel Farage MEP said, “Trump is motivated by protecting the United States of America from Islamic terrorism, whereas what has happened in this room and governments around Europe is you have welcomed this people into your own homes.”
“But I want to ask you Mr Verhofstadt, and all the others, with your faux outrage today, where were you when Obama, in 2011, banned any Iraqi from going into the country for six months? Why do I hear no criticism in this chamber or from the Commission of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain and others who have refused to take a single, not one, refugee or displaced person from Syria?”
Mr Farage also called on the European Parliament to invite Trump to speak to them in Brussels.
“It is clear that Britain is going global as a result of that momentous vote on June 23rd. I believe that we have a great future ahead of us.” - UKIP Leader Paul Nuttall MEP
Press Release
• British Labour Party is a shambles that has let down working class people for far too long said UKIP Leader Paul Nuttall.
Today, in the Strasbourg plenary debate on the European Council Conclusions UKIP Leader Paul Nuttall MEP responded to Prime Minister May’s Brexit objectives and made it clear that Britain is not a country that will be bullied easily by EU negotiators.
Speaking in the debate Paul Nuttall MEP stated:
“No-one in Britain bar UKIP, my party, is holding the government to account on these issues, maybe because the British Labour Party is a shambles that has let down working class people for far too long.”
“So I say to the EU negotiators, now is not the time for empty threats.”
“Britain is not bluffing, Britain will not be bullied. Britain is not some sort of small nation on the peripheries of Europe. We are the United Kingdom. The fifth largest economy on the planet. We have links all over the globe: to the Anglosphere, the Commonwealth, the emerging markets of the Far East.”
As Home Secretary, Theresa May always talked tough but failed to deliver. I challenge her to change the habit of a political lifetime and actually deliver this time - UKIP Leader Paul Nuttall
• Responding to Theresa May's Brexit speech today, UKIP Leader Paul Nuttall said from the European Parliament, Strasbourg :
“Some of it did sound like a UKIP conference speech and she’s now applying some of the things that we’ve been talking about for many, many years.
“I am concerned that what we’re getting is some sort of slow-motion Brexit where she is speaking about interim measures, or a transitional period, which will only begin after April 2019. She has given no end date to these transitional measures. I challenge the Prime Minister; let’s have this all done and clean before the next General Election in 2020.
“On a positive note I would probably give a 7/10 today. Good marks for saying we are leaving the EU's Single Market and stopping mass immigration.
“However, the vital issues of leaving the European Court of Human Rights and taking back control of our fishing waters have been left out completely.
The last thing we need is another career diplomat wearing a Brussels jersey - UKIP Brexit spokesman, Gerard Batten MEP
Press Release • Foreign Office political director Tim Barrow has been appointed as Ivan Rogers’ replacement as EU ambassador. Who is he? A career diplomat of 30 years who was the ambassador to Russia and head of the FCO’s Russia section, as well previously serving in two senior positions in Brussels.
Response from UKIP Brexit spokesman, MEP Gerard Batten:
“This appointment is a disappointment because the last thing we need is another career diplomat wearing a Brussels jersey.
“The Foreign Office (FCO) needs a complete and revolutionary shakeup for it must begin to reflect the stated desire of the British people to leave the EU.
“We need to remove career diplomats who have been so spectacularly unsuccessful in protecting British interests for the last 44 years.
Gerard Batten MEP, UKIP's Brexit spokesman has welcomed the resignation of the the UK's Ambassador to the EU, and has made a suggestion for his replacement. • “UKIP welcomes the resignation of Sir Ivan Rogers as the UK’s Ambassador to the EU.
“Sir Ivan had done the decent thing and stood down from an untenable position. If Mrs May were serious about leaving the EU she would have removed him long before.
“Sir Ivan is a Europhile who could not be expected to represent Britain’s national interest in the withdrawal process, which is long overdue in starting and which now needs to be pursued in earnest.
“Mrs May should not fill this post with a new Ambassador until we have Repealed the European Communities Act (1972) and returned supremacy of law-making to the UK Parliament.
“She should instead appoint committed Brexiteers to posts of talking to the European Union about how Britain intends to leave under our terms and under our law.
• Today, the European Parliament in Strasbourg, including Labour MEPs, passed a report concerning market access to port services and financial transparency. This would provide a platform for the EU to interfere with many UK ports as the majority of our ports, unlike continental Europe, are privately run.
Jill Seymour MEP and UKIP transport spokesperson commented:
“Our ports provide a competitive and market driven choice and this regulation will cause direct harm to the industry.
“Labour voters across the country will be disgusted to hear their MEPs have voted through this report. Their job-destroying ability knows no bounds and it seems our successful port industry, worth 300,000 jobs, are now their prime target. Unusually we were lobbied by both port owners and union workers and both groups were united in their opposition against this destructive legislation.
“Britain has a long and proud history trading with the world, a relationship which will now flourish post-Brexit, and our ports are the doors to our prosperity.”
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"MEP Pitera wishes to tell us how to combat fraud across Europe while having written letters at the behest of lawyers now up on a serious fraud charge in Poland. This place is like a circus and that is why people laugh at it and voted for Brexit." - 
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"If this is what Juncker calls diplomacy, he needs to take a long hard look at himself." - UKIP MEP Nigel Farage, EFDD Group Leader.
The last thing we need is another career diplomat wearing a Brussels jersey - UKIP Brexit spokesman, Gerard Batten MEP
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