(STRASBOURG) – Speaking to the European Parliament yesterday, Belgian MEP Guy Verhofstadt claimed that Britain still needs “consent” of the EU in order to complete the final stage of Brexit on time by January 31, 2020. Verhofstadt said that his MEP colleagues may deny Boris Johnson his withdrawal agreement if the British PM does not guarantee that all EU citizens living in the UK receive full citizenship rights, and the same for UK citizens living in mainland Europe.
The radical Belgian federalist also remarked that the decision by British voters to leave the EU was ‘not a very intelligent choice.’
Verhofstadt proceeded to chastise Brexiteers in the EU Parliament in a scathing rant:
“There is a consent to be given by this (European) Parliament and I know that everybody says that this consent will be automatically because it’s like that …. We have foreseen that the consent procedure will end in plenary on the 29th of January but in the meanwhile, there is a problem to be solved. I have received since the election in Britain hundreds and hundreds of letters and emails of British citizens living in Europe, panicking about their status. I have received hundreds of mails of EU citizens living in Britain, panicking about their status. And I think we need to solve that first before we give our consent on this Brexit treaty. Never citizens, British or European, can be the victim of this, in my opinion, not very intelligent choice, of Brexit. And I want to do an appeal to Prime Minister Boris Johnson to be generous in his victory and to give all the European citizens and the British citizens alike living on the continent the full rights as they have today. Automatically, to all of them, no ifs no buts, as he always says.”
https://twitter.com/DarrenPlymouth/status/1207283593632002048?s=20
However, many believe that Verhofstadt comments warrant serious concern, especially after the UK’s horrendous Windrush scandal this past year, where long-standing second and third generation Afro-Caribean residents were suddenly denied their rights as British citizens due to an incredible bureaucratic debacle created by the UK Home Home Office.
EU Empire?
Euro-skeptic worries over Verhofstadt’s grandstanding were no assauged of recent, especially when back in September, Verhofstadt was brought over to speak at the UK’s Liberal Democrat Party Conference, where he delivered an unnerving speech in which he implied that the EU was “an empire” and that Britain could only compete in a new world order if it was in, and not out, of the EU empire.
“The world of tomorrow is not a world order based on nation states or countries. It is a world order that is based on empires. China is not a nation, it’s a civilisation. India is not a nation. The US is also an empire, more than a nation. And then finally the Russian federation. The world of tomorrow is a world of empires in which we Europeans, and you British, can only defend your interests, your way of life, by doing it together, in a European framework and in the European Union,” said Verhofstadt.
The Liberal Democrats loudly cheer for Britain to be part of an E.U. empire. pic.twitter.com/7nN3TV7p6G
— Chris Green (@CGreenUK) September 15, 2019
Meanwhile, British PM Boris Johnson and the Tory Party are still on a high going into the holidays after securing an overwhelming mandate in the General Election. Johnson has promised to “get Brexit done”, and with a strict whip-line across the Conservative commons in support the prime minister’s exit deal which No.10 maintains will happen – deal or no deal – come January 31st.
Here is a summary of how the Brexit timeline is meant to unfold moving into the new year…
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