In the End the People's Will is Going to Prevail - This Place Won't Survive - Nigel Farage, UKIP Leader

“It is going to be as it was in the Netherlands last week, a battle of people versus the politicians. You may have the big money and the big businesses and Goldman Sachs, but we've our armies of bloggers. And in the end the people's will is going to prevail. This place won't survive.” - Nigel Farage. 

Debate: Conclusions of the European Council meeting of 17 and 18 March 2016 and outcome of the EU-Turkey summit. European Parliament, Strasbourg, 13 April 2016. Source: UKIP MEPs YouTube channel.

Transcript:

Martin Schulz:

Now on behalf of the EFDD group, MR. Farage.

Nigel Farage:

… We're here in what I've been told repeatedly is the home of European democracy, so surely we could've taken the opportunity this morning to celebrate the Dutch referendum last week, in which the people said no to EU enlargement, no to the deal with the Ukraine, and no doubt had it been Turkey an even bigger number of people would've said no to Turkish accession. So it was a victory for democracy. But in particular, it was a victory for little organization called “GeenPeil”. A group of young bloggers who managed to get together 427,000 signatures. It was a victory as well for direct democracy. And this in the week when we remember Gianroberto Casaleggio, the genius behind the Five-Star movement in Italy, has died. This, ladies and gentlemen, is the new politics.

And yet, we were told by Mr Juncker that if the Dutch voted no it would be a disaster, but he hasn't mentioned it today at all. Indeed your predecessor Mr Van Rompuy - my old mate - says we should just ignore the Dutch and carry on blithely. So what we're seeing is the big battalions of vested self-interest doing their best to completely ignore the will of the Dutch people. Well, I think things are changing. I don't believe these institutions can survive 21st century technology. I think the will of the people is changing politics in a way that makes all of you in this room deeply fearful, and so you should be.

And as we in the United Kingdom enter the final countdown of our referendum, all eyes are on this Turkish deal. And I think what we see is we see the bosses of EU bowing and scraping before Mr Erdogan who gleefully walks all over you, tramples over human rights at every level.

And for Mr. Juncker to tell us this morning that we are making progress, let's just examine that. 1.8 million people have come to the EU in the last 18 months, and we've sent back 300. Doesn't sound, Sir, like it's going very well to me. The one group that will be pleased though, are ISIS. They have now managed to put 5000 of their operatives into the European continent, according to the boss of Europol, something that should send a shiver down our collective spines. I have to say that in the end, I think that is what the British referendum will turn on. I think we will vote for Brexit, and the reason is we will vote to put our own safety first.

It is going to be as it was in the Netherlands last week, a battle of people versus the politicians. You may have the big money and the big businesses and Goldman Sachs, but we've our armies of bloggers. And in the end the people's will is going to prevail. This place won't survive.

Martin Schulz:

Mr Eriksson has a question for you, go ahead.

Peter Eriksson:

Thank you Mr. Speaker. I have a question to Mr. Farage, who is sitting behind the British flag. Don't you think that it is quite embarrassing for many Brits that speaker who is speaking behind the British flag is celebrating a referendum which the only winner is Mr. Putin, who now is celebrating that Europe is not united behind the cooperation with Ukraine?

Martin Schulz:

Go ahead Mr. Farage.

Nigel Farage:

I am equally not very keen on going to war with Mr. Putin. Strikes me as being a very silly idea. What did we do? We encouraged the overthrow of a corrupt but democratically elected leader in the Ukraine, and we in effect have poked the Russian bear with a stick, and were surprised when he reacted. We shouldn't be. I think we should all have our own individual nation state democracies, and I want a Europe, Mr. Eriksson, where we trade together, cooperate together, work together, are friends and good neighbors with each other; what I don't want is that flag and anthem and all these presidents. I don't want political union, I want genuine European friendship.