Thread by @nick_gutteridge

EU Parliament debate on Brexit getting under way in Brussels. Juncker, Barnier, Verhofstadt, Farage speaking. As ever, will post quotes below.

Melania Ciot, for Romanian presidency of Council, starts by asking how UK demands for 'alternative arrangements' can be reconciled with EU position Agreement is 'best deal possible'. Says: 'It's clear this state of affairs makes a disorderly exit of the UK more likely still.'

Jean-Claude Juncker: 'The Agreement remains the best and only deal possible. The EU said so in Nov, we said so in Dec, we said so after the first meaningful vote in Jan. The debate and votes in the HoC yesterday don’t change that. The Agreement will not be renegotiated.'

Juncker on the backstop: 'We need a safety net. We have no desire or incentive to use the safety net but at the same time no safety net can ever be truly safe if it can just be removed at any time.'

Juncker adds that he gets 'the impression some [in UK] hope the other 26 will abandon the backstop and Ireland, but this is not a game. It goes to the heart of what being a member of the EU means. Ireland’s border is Europe’s border and it’s our union’s priority.'

Juncker on last night's votes: 'We know from yesterday’s debate that the HoC is against many things - no deal, the backstop - but we still do not know what exactly the HoC is actually for. Yesterdays vote has further increased the risk of a disorderly exit of the UK.'

Juncker concludes by saying he's 'an optimist by nature' & 'believer in democratic institutions'. Says: 'This leads me to believe there can and will be an agreement with UK so we can move forward together with our new partnership. We’ll work day & night to make sure it happens.'

Michel Barnier accuses May of 'taking distance from agreement she herself negotiated' by backing Brady amendment. Says MPs want 'alternative arrangements which were never actually defined' & 'rejected no deal scenario without clarifying what means they would take to avoid that'.

Barnier equally as emphatic as Juncker on hopes of stripping out the backstop: 'Voting against a no deal does not rule out the risk of no deal. This Agreement remains the best and only means to ensure an orderly withdrawal. This agreement will not be renegotiated.'

Barnier has a swipe at former Brexit secretaries David Davis and Dominic Raab: 'When I hear some people who were even part and parcel of the negotiations saying what they’re saying it’s tough I find it hard to accept this blame game they’re trying to play against us.'

Barbier on backstop: 'We're open to alternative arrangements. We’re ready to work on that *as soon as the Agreement is signed*. But here and now honestly no one, either on one side or the other can say very clearly or precisely what form these alternative arrangements will take.'

German MEP Elmar Brok says 'it’s vital that the head of the Government and leader of opposition haven’t been speaking to each other for 3 years. He implores: 'Please come with a unified position, a constructive idea and come back to Brussels. We are united, you are not united.'

Brok on UK-wide backstop: 'Now the British want to renegotiate something that they themselves proposed in the first place - I think this is quite crazy. You in London need to sit down and talk together and decide what it is you want first.'

Brok sparks consternation in UKIP corner of the chamber by pointing out the EU market is '14 times bigger' than the UK one and saying: 'All of these companies that want to trade with the EU are going to leave the UK. It’s going to be a bitter hour for the UK.'

Tory leader in Brussels Ashley Fox: 'The backstop in its current form will not prevent a hard border, it will create it. It's simply not good enough to repeat ad nauseam that the deal cannot be amended. That leads to no deal and a hard border.'

EP Brexit coordinator Guy Verhofstadt: 'I have not seen a parliament that gives a clear mandate to May. We’ve seen a vote against a number of things, against the deal, against no deal, against the backstop, but until today HoC has not voted one proposal in favour of something.'

Verhofstadt on May-Corbyn meeting: 'I hope they will discuss content and it’s not only eating biscuits and drinking tea. It could be the solution to this problem if they start working together on a cross-party approach so we know what the position of the UK is in the future.'

Nigel Farage: 'Before the referendum nobody knew who the Commission were. You guys are now household names. What we’ve seen is an appreciation in Britain that unelected bureaucrats in Brussels have been talking down to and humiliating the PM of our nation and we don’t like it.'

Farage continues: 'The reason a no deal Brexit has got closer is because of the attitude towards Britain. I think public opinion will be very angry that there’s no give from Brussels whatsoever. People will think we’re dealing with fanatics who are not prepared to be reasonable.'