Nigel Farage's insults to European Council President an embarrassment for Britain

Written by Fiona Hall on Thu 25th Feb 2010

UKIP might not consider Nigel Farage's insults to European Council President Van Rompuy "unparliamentary" but they are degrading and humiliating for other British nationals and for Britain 's reputation in Europe.

MEPs are entitled to question Van Rompuy's appointment. But when Farage called him both a "damp rag" and an "assassin" - two caricatures that are rather difficult to reconcile - he tripped from the political into the personal. Describing Belgium as a "non country" is the hackneyed put-down adopted by those who believe the global map should still be coloured red. Our European colleagues are not amused, and who could blame them in the face of such juvenile and ignorant behaviour?

Like a lager lout on a coach trip, Farage finds himself being given an ever widening berth by other British MEPs fed up with having to apologise for a fellow national. It's at moments like these that we need a European ASBO.