Nigel Farage Lambasts "Extreme Militarists" During Syria Debate

"Why don't you shut up and listen for a change! You must be-- you really must be the vilest and rudest man in European politics! And you rant on, and the Chair lets you get away with it because you're the former Prime Minister of Belgium! Well, there we are." Speaker: Nigel Farage MEP, Leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP), Co-President of the 'Europe of Freedom and Democracy' (EFD) Group in the European Parliament - http://nigelfaragemep.co.uk

Blue card questions:

- Charles TANNOCK MEP, Conservative Party, ECR Group

- Ioan Mircea PAŞCU MEP, Socialist Group (S&D)

Debate: Situation in Syria

Statement by the Vice-President of the Commission/High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy

[2013/2819(RSP)]

European Parliament, Strasbourg, 11 September 2013. Source: UKIPmeps YouTube channel.

Translated by: Jadranko Brkic

(see video at the bottom of transcript)

Transcript:

And now Mr. Farage.

Nigel Farage:

I represent a group that is against military action in Syria. We're against it not because we're pacifists. We're against it not because we don't care about the awful things going on there. We're against because we think there's some pretty poor thinking going on. This idea that somehow the rebels are the good guys and Assad are the bad guys really is over-simplifying a situation where of course we know that Al-Qaida have significant representation amongst those rebel groups.

And of course we've seen it all before. An endless series of military adventures over the course of the last 10 to fifteen years, one of which of course - notably, in Afghanistan - is still going on and is not achieving any of its original aims. And I was worried when I heard the Americans telling us to begin with, it was about punishing Assad, and then within a week it was about regime change, a position that I know the noble Baroness herself supports. We think firing a thousand criuse missiles in is likely to make an unstable situation even worse than it is now.

But of course, Baroness Ashton, in a sense, you're sitting pretty, because as the highest paid female politician in the world, luckily, you got a non-job. Because the EU, thank goodness, hasn't yet got a foreign policy, and as a result of that what we saw two weeks ago in the House of Commons was a nation state democracy standing up and saying something.

And as a direct result of that vote in the House of Commons we have not gone to war in Syria, we have entered a period of negotiations, and Assad has a chance to prove to all of us whether he is a good man or a bad man.

I don't know how this will play out, but at least, Mr Verhofstadt, there is a chance of peace. And I know that you represent the kind of political class that believe that global influence can only be achieved through bombing. Well luckily, unlike extrem EU nationalists like yourself, British democracy has proved that through nation state parliaments we've actually made people re-think.

Mr Chairman, I have to say, as somebody that has been here now for 14 years it's very ironic that the view that I represent was called extreme but you can see the extreme militarists now. Thank you.

Chairman announces that he has two 'blue cards' (i.e. questions from other MEPs). He tells Charles Tannock, a British Conservative MEP, to ask his question first.

Charles Tannock (UK, Conservative, ECR):

Mr. Farage... Nigel... Mr. Farage, over here. You talked about "the good guys and the bad guys". It's not about the good guys and the bad guys. You remember well the battlefields of the First World War. You take a great interest in that war, and you remember the horrors of the use of gas. Would you not accept that a red line has been crossed by the Assad regime in using gas against his own people, and so what should be done to stop other dictators and despots using it elsewhere, not just against civilians but actually in military conflicts. So what would your response be to the use of a weapon of mass destruction - sit back and do nothing?

Nigel Farage (UK, UKIP, EFD:

The "good guys/bad guys" story really I take from your own Foreign Secretary and Party member William Hague, who of course was urging the international community to arm the rebels - something that struck me given we know Al-Qaeda's involvement, as being total and utter madness. I am cynical and sceptical, as are much of the European public, about who has used those weapons until we get the full report and we get the intelligence right. We went to war in Iraq being told that Saddam had weapons of-- oh, why don't you shut up and listen for a change! You must be-- you really must be the vilest and rudest man in European politics! And you rant on, and the Chair lets you get away with it because you're the former Prime Minister of Belgium! Well, there we are.

So, Mr. Tannock, I understand what you're saying. I understand that something ghastly has happened here but before you take military action, you need to be certain that you're going to make things better and not worse.

Chairman announces the second 'blue card' speaker - Ioan Mircea Pașcu MEP, of Romania's Social Democratic Party.

Ioan Pașcu (Romania, PSD, S&D):

Mr. Farage-- would you stop the chronometer please? May I address the question? Mr. Farage, I am coming from Romania, maybe living like a pig as you described the Romanians. But in this room, in this house, I think that we have the same rights altogether. Therefore, I am asking you: you said that this is an opportunity for Assad to demonstrate whether he's a good man or a bad man. Do you think that 100,000 killed there proves him to be a good man? Because I don't. Do you?

Nigel Farage (UK, UKIP, EFD):

Sir, I will say this to you: I have never described the Romanians as living like pigs. What I said was: the Romanians treat their Roma minority like pigs, alright, so let's get that absolutely clear. Your country discriminate against a large group of people in a way we have not seen in Europe since the 1930s, alright?

Now look: I am not taking sides in this civil war but I am saying this: whether it's through the use of gas or whether it's through the use of other forms of high explosive or bullets, there are terrible things happening in Syria. I understand that and I agree with that - but rushing to war as we did in Afghanistan, as we did in Iraq, was a mistake and Mr. Cameron tried to bounce us into war and thank goodness the House of Commons has given us pause for thought. Surely, that must be a good thing.