Guy Verhofstadt rants at Nigel Farage in 2012 EU speech
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Mr Farage confirmed his decision yesterday on Twitter, as well as in a message to supporters of his political outfit, now-rebranded rebranded as the Reform Party. However, he was given short shrift by Mr Verhofstadt, a frequent critic of both Brexit and Mr Farage personally.
The former Belgian Prime Minister tweeted: "Brexit has few silver linings - but no one misses Nigel Farage's delusional speeches that Brexit will lead to the collapse of the EU... quod non!
"EU taxpayers certainly won't miss his work ethic either!"
Furthermore, Mr Verhofstadt shared an incendiary video of him ranting at Mr Farage in the chamber of the European Parliament in Brussels when Mr Farage was still a member of UKIP.
© GETTY/TwitterGuy Verhofstadt Nigel Farage
© EUGuy Verhofstadt
In it, Mr Verhofstadt says: "Mr Farage has the whole morning talked about salaries and the biggest waste a waste of money.
"Well, you know, colleagues, what I think is the biggest waste of money in the European Union of the day is the salary we are paying to Mr Farage, that is the biggest waste of money.
"Oh no. Mr Farage, let's be honest about it - you are a member of the fishery committee for example, and you're never there, never!
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"In 2011 no attendance, in 2012 no attendance. It's fantastic what you're doing.
"You're coming here saying it's a scandal, the salaries that will be paid, and you pay yourself a salary, without doing any labour in your own committee, that's the reality of the European Union for you."
His remarks drew cheers and loud applause from other MEPs.
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© TwitterGuy Verhofstadt
Mr Verhofstadt's tweet provoked a mixed reaction from other Twitter users.
Kyriacos Ktinas pleaded: "Can we please move on from the Brexit saga? You ain't doing the EU any favours...."
Another posted: "The cash that #EU's might have wasted on @Nigel_Farage EU salary is of no consequence compared to the billions that EU wastes."
© EUNigel Farage
© EUNigel Farage
A third added: "Like him or loathe him, He was never elected as an MP in UK, yet he achieved his political objectives against all odds in EU."
Others were more supportive.
Simon De Cogan said: "Well said Guy Verhofstadt - many of us in the UK will always regard ourselves as European, and we also know that Farage is a delusional charlatan."
© ExpressNigel Farage factfile
Another added: "We British won't miss him either - but will always blame him for this disaster."
Explaining his decision yesterday, Mr Farage said: "After a quarter of a century building UKIP up into a national political force, without which a Referendum would never have been granted, I never thought that I would need to start a new party from scratch.
"But thank goodness I did because we handsomely won the European Elections and got rid of Mrs May as Prime Minister.
© TwitterGuy Verhofstadt tweet
"In the months that followed, the Brexit Party was topping the opinion polls and this guaranteed that the Conservative Party would come to its senses.
"They selected Boris Johnson as the next Prime Minister with a more positive, pro-Brexit message. "
He added: "The final outcome has cut off Northern Ireland from the rest of the UK and treated our fisherman terribly, but we are out and there is no going back.
"Already, in terms of the vaccine rollout and trade deals around the world, we are seeing the benefits of Brexit and the EU itself turn into a laughing stock."