Get 40% Off
🤯 This Tech Portfolio is up 29% YTD! Join Now to Get April’s Top PicksGet The Picks – Just 99 USD

Pantomime, travel and rest: What comes next for Britain's EU lawmakers?

Published 01/16/2020, 04:23 PM
Updated 01/16/2020, 04:23 PM
© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: A British Union Jack flag is seen on the desk of Farage, leader of the UKIP and MEP, ahead of a debate at the European Parliament in Strasbourg

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: A British Union Jack flag is seen on the desk of Farage, leader of the UKIP and MEP, ahead of a debate at the European Parliament in Strasbourg

By Marine Strauss

STRASBOURG (Reuters) - Britain's 73 EU lawmakers packed up their offices in Strasbourg on Thursday: for some a moment of triumph, for others, disaster.

This week marked the last sitting of the European Parliament in the eastern French town before Brexit Britain leaves the bloc on Jan. 31 and all those lawmakers lose their jobs.

There is one more session to go in the assembly's main base in Brussels. But for the British MEPs, from Thursday, there will be no more first-class train journeys trips across the Ardennes to their regular sessions in Strasbourg, and no more dining out on its Alsatian wine, choucroute and tarte flambee.

The Brexit Party's Ann Widdecombe, for one, said she was "delighted" to be winding up her near eight-month career as a Member of the European Parliament.

"I came here to get Brexit done, she told Reuters. "That's why I came and we've been pretty successful."

Her possessions in Strasbourg, she said, fitted into one cardboard box. She was looking forward to returning to her home in southwest England, to writing, to giving speeches on cruise ships and to getting involved in pantomimes.

The 751 members of parliament (MEPs) convene in Strasbourg four days a month and in Brussels for the remainder, an upheaval that costs millions of euros a year - something that Brexiteers such as Widdecombe regularly hold up as evidence of EU waste.

Fellow Brexit Party member Claire Fox said she had no regrets about saying goodbye to the French border town. She had only joined the European Parliament to get her country out of the whole institution. Britain had stayed "longer than we should have".

"THE MOST INTERESTING JOB"

Not long enough for Luisa Porritt, a lawmaker from the Liberal Democrats, which campaigned to stay in the European Union.

Her career as an MEP was as short as Widdecombe's but she said felt "very lucky" to have had the experience.

"I've been grateful for every extra day that I've had," said the 32-year-old, who is planning to take a break in Iceland after Jan. 31.

Caroline Voaden, head of the EU assembly's Liberal Democrat delegation, said she felt devastated.

"It's been the most interesting job of my life, but that's so minimal compared to the sadness I feel about what it means for Britain."

The job had given her an opportunity to speak out on mental health, shape the EU's new Green Deal and work in a multicultural environment. It had been "gruelling", but she would miss it and struggle to settle back in to her small hometown in England.

All four women joined the European Parliament at the last elections in May 2019, so they will not qualify for the assembly's golden goodbye - one month of salary for every year in office, capped at 24 months, for MEPs with more than a year under their belts.

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: A British Union Jack flag is seen on the desk of Farage, leader of the UKIP and MEP, ahead of a debate at the European Parliament in Strasbourg

In just over two weeks time, they will be shutting up their even bigger offices in Brussels, and handing back their access and voting cards, office keys and laptops.

Latest comments

Risk Disclosure: Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.
© 2007-2024 - Fusion Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.