It's always been one of the European Parliament's most delicious ironies that many of its members are dyed-in-the-wool Euroskeptics.
Like Nigel Farage, a MEP for South East England and one of the founding members of the U.K. Independence Party, who seems to be in the parliament primarily to cause trouble. (The UKIP wants Britain to withdraw from the European Union.)
At a parliamentary session yesterday, Farage seemed to think he was performing at Britain's Prime Minister's Questions.
He attacked EU President Herman van Rompuy, saying he had "the charisma of a damp rag" and the "appearance of a low-grade bank clerk."
Entertaining, not just for Farage's rant, but for the reaction of the other members: polite head shaking, controlled booing, van Rompuy adjusting his tie and looking toward the heavens.
"Who are you?" Farage asks before taking a few cheap shots at Belgium, calling it a "non-country."
A voice off camera bellows back: "And who are you?"
--Luke Allnutt