In his final address to the European Union, Nigel Farage defended Britain’s love for Europe while castigating the multinational governing body for being “anti-democratic.”
“I can promise you, both in UKIP and indeed in the Brexit Party,” said Farage. “We love Europe, we just hate the European Union. It’s as simple as that.”
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Farage, 55, spearheaded the United Kingdom’s efforts to leave the EU, claiming a shock victory for Brexit in a June 2016 referendum that was confirmed when Prime Minister Boris Johnson and the Conservative Party won handily in a general election held in late 2019.
“I’m hoping this begins the end of this project. It’s a bad project. It isn’t just undemocratic, it’s anti-democratic, and it puts in that front row, it gives people power without accountability.”
Farage, the euroskeptic leader of the Brexit Party and former candidate of the U.K.’s Independence Party, has represented England as a member of the European Parliament since 1999. He called the EU “a 47-year political experiment that the British frankly have never been very happy with.”
“There is a historic battle going on now across the West, in Europe, America, and elsewhere. It is globalism vs. populism. And you may loathe populism, but I tell you a funny thing: it’s becoming very popular.”
The U.K. joined the European Economic Community in 1973 and will become the first nation to leave the EU on Jan. 31. The U.K. will follow all EU rules and regulations over the next 11 months until they exit on Dec. 31, 2020.
“I know you’re going to miss us. I know you want to ban our national flags, but we’re going to wave you goodbye,” stated Farage as the British delegation stood and waved the Union Jack.
