Richard Howitt (S&D). – Mr President, Martin, thank you. Thank you, on my last day in the European Parliament, to all of you in all of the Groups, Members and staff, for your friendship and for your cooperation. Thank you to the British Labour Party and to the Socialist and Democrat Group to whom I will remain for ever loyal, to my own family, sitting in the public gallery, to whom I will be always loyal too.

I am proud to have represented my constituency, the East of England; it really is ‘bootiful’. I am proud, as a working-class boy who could never have expected to do so, to have represented my country and our continent. It has been a privilege and an honour to serve. I will always remember being here on the days of EU enlargement and of conflict resolution, of championing business responsibility on behalf of this Parliament, and my new career will be true to those values and principles.

I, my party, and many in my country, argued for Europe, and we will continue to do so. We must take our responsibility for the referendum defeat, and I am sorry, when I leave this building, I do not expect to return as an MEP. But if my country makes the historic mistake of leaving the European Union, I look forward to the day when it will return.

(Loud, sustained applause and standing ovation)