Irish MEP and Vice President of the European Parliament Mairead McGuinness reprimanded Brexiteers yesterday for repeatedly heckling during a debate saying, “This is not the House of Commons”.
McGuinness was chairing a debate on the latest Brexit developments along with Jean-Claude Juncker and Michel Barnier. Eurosceptic and Scottish MEP David Coburn interrupted the debate several times by shouting “rubbish”, and “auf wiedersehen”, as German MEP Elmar Brok addressed the room. He also shouted “good” as MEP Guy Verhofstadt spoke of the uncertainty that Brexit has caused.
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McGuinness responded to the continuous interruptions and heckles by saying if it was her choice, she would have the word ‘rubbish’ removed from parliament.
She continued: “This is a very difficult issue for all of us. The least we can do is respect the person who has the microphone. There are too many on my right intervening with the debate. Please listen, it is far too serious of an issue to play out in parliament.
“This is not the House of Commons, colleagues, it is the European Parliament.”
In the aftermath, McGuinness received wide praise for her composure and measured response to the proceedings.