Nigel Farage Turns His Back On EU Anthem In Opening Ceremony (PICTURES) | HuffPost

WATCH: The Moment Nigel Farage Literally Turned His Back On The EU

Asa Bennett— The Huffington Post UK

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Nigel Farage led his fellow Ukip MEPs in an act of protest against the European Parliament as they turned their backs while the European Union's anthem played.

The Ukip MEPs' show of defiance took place as a chamber orchestra opened the parliament's first session, which saw German socialist Martin Schulz elected president, by playing Beethoven's Ode to Joy.

Farage turns his back on the orchestra

Although most MEPs stood up for it, British Tory MEPs sat quietly while Ukip MEPs turned their backs on the orchestra and the EU flag.

Other newly-elected Ukip politicians took part too, like Janice Atkinson and Steven Woolfe.

Woolfe said that the show of protest was against the "done deal' for Schulz's election as president of the EU parliament, adding: "Only the Labour group in the EU and their Socialist partners clapping Shultz in his speech for EU Parliament president."

Schulz got 409 votes in the 751-seat chamber, after his Socialist S&D bloc backed the conservative ex-Luxembourg premier Jean-Claude Juncker to be European Commission president.

Tory MEP Sajjad Karim, a rival candidate for president of the European parliament, condemned a "cosy consensus brokered behind closed doors", and said that the job of president had been "reduced to nothing more than a bargaining chip".

UKIP deputy leader Paul Nuttall MEP explained: "We don't recognise or respect the EU flag or anthem. They are both symbols of our servitude inside a political union which the British people reject.

"We will do everything we can in European Parliament to oppose the Federalist system which ignores our national democracy and pushes millions of people across Europe into poverty and unemployment. We stand up for our people, not the EU flag and anthem.

"National democracy and EU membership are incompatible. We will do everything we can to free ourselves from this corrupt institution."

However, Liberal Democrat MEP Catherine Bearder criticised the Ukip politicians for their "shocking disrespect" during the opening ceremony, describing their actions as "rude'.

Ukip's Highs And Lows

COMING UP INTO THE WORLD: Ukip Are Born(01 of22)

Ukip was founded in 1993 by LSE professor Alan Sked in opposition to the Maastricht treaty. (credit:Alamy)

GOING DOWN: 1997 General Election(02 of22)

Ukip fielded 193 candidates but only got 0.3% of the vote, losing out to the just as Europhobic Referendum Party, led by billionaire publisher and politician, Sir James Goldsmith, (left), who got 2.6%.Sked resigned saying Ukip "they are racist and have been infected by the far-right", a reputation they have yet to shake.He was replaced with Michael Holmes (credit:PA)

GOING UP: James Goldsmith Dies(03 of22)

The unfortunate death of the rival party leader led to the dissolution of the Referendum Party with many members subsequently joining Ukip. (credit:Alamy)

GOING UP: 1999 Elections To European Parliament(04 of22)

Ukip got 7% of the vote and gained three MEPs.This jolly looking chap, Jeffrey Titford, was one of them. (credit:PA)

GOING DOWN: Holmes Resignation And 2001 General Election(05 of22)

Holmes was forced to resign in 200 due to a conflict between himself and the Ukip's National Executive Committee.Titford became leader.In the following year's general election Ukip failed to gain any seats with a 1.5% of the vote.(The man pictured is not a member Ukip but a pictorial representation of the misery felt by the party during this difficult time) (credit:Alamy)

GOING STEADY: Knapman Takes Over(06 of22)

Titford decided he didn't really like being leader and so was replaced with this fellow, Roger Knapman in 2002.Knapman attracted some attention in 2006 when he employed a team of Polish builders to renovate his home despite his anti-immigration stance. (credit:PA)

GOING WAY UP: 2004 European Elections (07 of22)

Building on their previous European success, Ukip went on to gain a (in relative terms) massive 12 MEPs in 2004. Godfrey Bloom, seen here far-right, immediately triggered a storm of protest over women's rights within hours of starting work in the European Parliament. After being given a place on the Parliament's Women's Rights Committee he told journalists he wanted to deal with women's issues because "I just don't think they clean behind the fridge enough", adding: "I am here to represent Yorkshire women who always have dinner on the table when you get home. I am going to promote men's rights." What a charming gent... (credit:PA)

GOING DOWN TO THE PERMA-TANNED BOTTOM: Kilroy(08 of22)

The deliciously named, orange-faced TV agony aunt, Robert Kilroy-Silk, caused a tabloid frenzy when recruited to Ukip in 2004.He was elected an MEP that year but did nothing to hide his ambitions for leadership causing some consternation amongst the ranks.Silk left the party after nine months.His TV show, Kilroy, was cancelled after he wrote an article in the Sunday Express titelled 'We owe Arabs nothing'. (credit:PA)

GOING UP PAST THE TORIES: Hartlepool By-Election(09 of22)

Ukip finished third in 2004 above the Conservatives who came fourth.In other news this flour incident also happened. (credit:PA)

GOING DOWN TO THE BEACH: 2005 General Election(10 of22)

Ukip were rubbish.They didn't gain a single seat and their best result was third place in Boston & Skegness. (credit:Alamy)

GOING UP. OR DOWN DEPENDING ON YOUR OPINION OF THIS MAN: Nigel Farage(11 of22)

September 2006 saw the introduction of Farage as leader. (credit:PA)

GOING UP WITH BAGS OF CASH(12 of22)

In 2009, Tory party donor extraordinaire, Stuart Wheeler, jumped ships and gave Ukip £100,000.He was, rather unsurprisingly, expelled from the Conservative party for his treachery. (credit:Alamy)

GOING DOWN WITH SOME DODGY FRIENDS: Geert Widlers(13 of22)

In 2009 Farage stood down as Ukip leader so he could contest the seat of Buckingham.Lord Pearson was chosen to replace him.Here is Pearson at a joint press conference with well-known Dutch extreme right-winger and general Islam hater, Geert Wilders.#justsayin (credit:PA)

GOING UP THROUGH THE POLITICAL GLASS CEILING: 2009 European Elections(14 of22)

A climate where the electorate were slightly miffed at a banking crisis at the amount some MPs were claiming on expenses was a bonus for Ukip.They gained 16.5 per cent of the vote, or to put it another way, they beat the government. (credit:PA)

GOING DOWN AGAIN: 2010 General Election(15 of22)

Farage lost to John Bercow.Once again, Ukip failed to win a single seat.This disaster however was slightly overshadowed by... (credit:PA)

GOIND DOWN RATHER QUICKLY AND WITH A SLIGHT BUMP: Plane Crash(16 of22)

Farage was a passenger in this plane when it crashed on the morning of the elections. He broke his sternum, ribs and punctured a lung.The cause of the crash was put down to the Ukip banner the plane was towing getting caught in aircraft's tail. (credit:PA)

GOING UP A LITTLE BIT: Farage Re-Election(17 of22)

Farage was re-elected in August 2010.Lord Pearson said: "The UKIP crown returns to its rightful owner".How nice of him... (credit:PA)

GOING UP HIGHER THAN THEY'D EVER BEEN BEFORE: Rotherham By-Election(18 of22)

UKIP's Jane Collins came second in the 2012 vote with Ukip's highest ever share in a parliamentary election. (credit:PA)

GOING UP SO MUCH IT MADE FARAGE DO THIS FACE: Eastleigh By-Election(19 of22)

Cometh the hour, cometh the grin.This was a huge coup for Ukip as they took second place in front of Labour and the Conservatives in 2013. (credit:PA)

GOING DOWN WITH RACIAL PREJUDICE: Election Candidate Scandals(20 of22)

Farage admitted the party couldn't possibly have vetted all their candidates in the 2013 local elections.Unfortunately for Ukip it meant a number of slightly dubious characters being exposed in the press.This lady for example is alleged to have said: "Only the Zionists could sacrifice their own in the gas chambers."That, quite frankly, is simply not on. (credit:Facebook)

FLYING HIGH: Local Elections 2013(21 of22)

He's right to look chuffed with himself.Ukip came second in the South Shields by-election and got 26 per cent of the vote in the local elections.The Conservatives and Liberal Democrats both lost seats.The biggest surge by a fourth placed party since WWII does not bode well for the coalition in 2015. (credit:PA)

(22 of22)

This slide has nothing to do with anything but this picture can NOT go to waste... (credit:Getty Images)

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