It’s no secret in Brussels that Nigel Farage and his merry band of Brexit Party MEPs are fond of a cringeworthy stunt.
The European Parliament had barely returned in July when the group tried to stir up trouble by turning their backs while the EU’s Anthem to Europe was played.
So it wasn’t exactly a shock when the Brexit Party decided to mark Farage’s final speech as an MEP (which he used to repeatedly slam the EU) by enthusiastically brandishing Union Jack flags.
“We know you’re going to miss us,” Farage told parliament (despite people shouting the exact opposite at him).
“I know you want to ban our national flag, but we’re going to wave you goodbye...,” the Brexit Party leader said, before his mic was cut off.
Unsurprisingly, Mairead McGuinness – the first vice-president of European parliament – was pretty unimpressed with this little production.
“Please sit down, resume your seats,” she told Brexit Party MEPs.
“Put your flags away – you’re leaving – and take them with you if you’re leaving now,” McGuinness added, sparking applause from sections of parliament.
But she wasn’t the only one left cringing at Farage and his attempt at a dramatic exit.
Farage’s speech came on the same day that European parliament ratified Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal, making the UK’s exit from the EU on Friday inevitable.
The vote marked the end of Britain’s 47-year-long membership of the bloc.
The moment sparked emotional scenes in the chamber among Remainer MEPs, who sang Auld Lang Syne and held aloft scarves bearing the words “always united”.
But tweets from the Brexit Party’s Martin Daubney suggest that he and his colleagues were already in the party spirit ahead of the Britain’s departure from the EU on January 31.
“It’s a carnival atmosphere for jubilant Brexiteers,” he wrote, posting a video of MEPs at the bar.