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EU Summit: 'Timmermanns is a dangerous fanatic'

ceptimus said:
One reason we want to leave is that we DIDN'T sign up to those terms when we joined - back then the EEC was mostly just a free trade area - more and more rules and conditions creep in every year - and the 'common market' as it was is gradually morphing into the United States of Europe.
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We did sign up to the terms when we signed up to them. Each and every time we signed up to them. With a big cheesy grin.

You might not have wanted them to, but we did.
 
Vixen said:
He has the populist vote.
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Yes and no.

In the European elections, which typically have a low turnout, have proportional representation (which encourages voting for "other" parties) and which have tended to reflect a protest vote, his party polled highest. It remains to be seen whether that support is durable and whether it translates into success in a First Past the Post election. Support for UKIP evaporated as soon as Leave won the referendum, the same could very well happen once Brexit has happened (especially in the case of a no-deal Brexit).

That said, the Brexit Party (and UKIP before it) have had a disproportionate impact on Conservative Party, and as a result UK government, policy for a decade or more. Personally I'd say that's indicative of the weakness of the Conservatives rather than the strength of the Brexit Party - but as a lefty, I would say that. ;)
 
The Don said:
Yes and no.

In the European elections, which typically have a low turnout, have proportional representation (which encourages voting for "other" parties) and which have tended to reflect a protest vote, his party polled highest. It remains to be seen whether that support is durable and whether it translates into success in a First Past the Post election. Support for UKIP evaporated as soon as Leave won the referendum, the same could very well happen once Brexit has happened (especially in the case of a no-deal Brexit).

That said, the Brexit Party (and UKIP before it) have had a disproportionate impact on Conservative Party, and as a result UK government, policy for a decade or more. Personally I'd say that's indicative of the weakness of the Conservatives rather than the strength of the Brexit Party - but as a lefty, I would say that. ;)
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Maybe in the UK but it has 29 MEP's. OK so they claim to turn their backs on the European Parliament but those numbers mean they have clout if they want to use it. Nigel standing up to disparage other MEP's as not having proper jobs might be amusing but he shouldn't be underestimated in respect of the damage he could inflict.
 
From the BBC News it looks like, as expected, the Greens and the Left withheld their votes as they didn't think von der Leyen was tough enough on climate change and the left because their favoured candidate, Timmermans, was not chosen.

She scraped through with 383 votes, just nine more than the minimum. That may leave her in a weakened position, as it seems she was helped over the line by votes from Eurosceptic and right-wing MEPs in Poland and Italy.

Greens, on the other hand, did not vote for her. They said her commitments on climate change and saving the lives of refugees trying to cross the Mediterranean were too weak. Socialists, too, were angered that their preferred candidate was overlooked by EU leaders.
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So, she may struggle to form a majority vote for anything.
 
Unrecognised irony moment of the week. Farage pointing out that she isn't legitimate because she only just got in... with 52% of the vote!
 
The MEPs were only given one candidate to vote for - and just over half of the MEPs did vote for her.

The EU continues to impress - a shining beacon of democracy and cooperation. Now they have a president fanatical about implementing a European army, and scheming to prevent any country being able to veto such a move. It's good for Brexit - if we are ever forced into a second referendum, we now have even more reasons to vote Leave.
 
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ceptimus said:
The MEPs were only given one candidate to vote for - and just over half of the MEPs did vote for her.

The EU continues to impress - a shining beacon of democracy and cooperation. Now they have a president fanatical about implementing a European army, and scheming to prevent any country being able to veto such a move. It's good for Brexit - if we are ever forced into a second referendum, we now have even more reasons to vote Leave.
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As opposed to massive support for brexit in your country...
 
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