'Why are you here?'
Leading Brexit campaigner Nigel Farage was booed and heckled in a raucous special session of the European Parliament on Tuesday as he accused the EU of imposing a superstate on its citizens and predicted other countries would leave the bloc like Britain.
Facing Farage, who sat with a British "Union Jack" flag planted on the table in front of him, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker asked: "Why are you here?"
When Farage interrupted Juncker's speech to applaud the results of last week's British vote to leave the EU, the Commission chief shot back: "That is the last time you are applauding here."
The parliamentary session began on a friendly note, with Juncker air-kissing Farage, acknowledging sadness at the outcome of the referendum. But the air of somber civility did not last long, as leading lawmakers accused the Leave camp of having lied their way to victory.
In a fiery speech, former Belgian prime minister Guy Verhofstadt accused British politicians of creating a "toxic climate" of uncertainty since the Brexit vote and described former London mayor Boris Johnson, a Brexit advocate and leading candidate to replace Cameron, as a "selfish man" who had put his own political ambitions above the interests of his country.
German Manfred Weber, an ally of Chacellor Angela Merkel and the leader of the biggest group in parliament, took on Farage in the packed house: "If you had an ounce of decency today, you would apologise to the British people."
But Marine Le Pen, the leader of France's far-right National Front, hailed the Brexit vote as the most momentous event in Europe since the fall of the Berlin Wall. "It is a huge victory for democracy and a slap at an EU built on fear, blackmail and lies," she added.
Speaking to reporters earlier, Farage appeared to backtrack on disputed claims by the Leave campaign that an exit would allow London to redirect 350 million pounds per week they alleged it sent to Brussels to Britain's National Health Service (NHS). Farage estimated the savings at 34 million pounds per day, significantly less than promised on a weekly basis.
"If you had said this before the vote I could have congratulated you," Juncker said. "But you lied. You didn't tell the truth."
By the time Farage rose to speak, hissing from other members of parliament had grown so loud that parliament president Martin Schulz was forced to admonish members to stop acting like Farage's UKIP.
The gritty anti-immigration politician hit back, calling the Brexit vote a "seismic" result that offered a "beacon of hope" for democrats across Europe.
"I will make one prediction this morning, the United Kingdom will not be the last member state to leave the European Union," he said.
"Isn't it funny. When I came here 17 years ago and I said I wanted to lead a campaign to get Britain to leave the EU, you all laughed at me but you are not laughing now," Farage told MEPs.
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