Verbatim report of proceedings

Thursday, 30 January 2020 - Brussels

Agreement on the withdrawal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community (A9-0004/2020 - Guy Verhofstadt)

  Henrik Overgaard Nielsen (NI). – Madam President, the vote which took place yesterday on the Withdrawal Agreement was not an easy choice for me.

The Withdrawal Agreement as it stands, although improved from the original draft, is far from the Brexit which I had envisioned. Issues of the Northern Ireland border, the redaction of the Lord Dubs amendment on child refugees and the 39 billion all made me less than jubilant to vote in favour of the Agreement.

However I stood for election in May of last year on the principle of democracy and the return of sovereignty to the British Parliament. Boris Johnson won that mandate in December of last year. Therefore, it’s not the role for me or any other MEP to overturn the democratic decision of the British people: both the referendum in 2016 and the support given to Boris’s Brexit deal.

This is not to say that I have succumbed to the charms and promising words of the Prime Minister. Far from it. I remain sceptical of the promises which Boris has given to Brexiteers and his ability to ensure that the Brexit he delivers reflects the concerns of those across the whole country, and not just the Tory shires. I hope Boris won’t disappoint the 17.4 million.