Brexiter MEP Nigel Farage ‘entitled to €172,000 payout’ from EU

British MEPs departing the European Parliament after Brexit will receive a transitional allowance

Nigel Farage has one of the worst attendance records in the European Parliament. EPA

British members of the European Parliament who will lose their jobs after Brexit could be entitled to a payout of up to hundreds of thousands of euros.

Politico, who obtained a document titled “British members end of mandate”, reported that British MEPs will be allowed to claim a transitional allowance of €8,611.31 (Dh37,000) for every year that they have served in the parliament.

The €8,611.31 before tax payment will be given every month for up to two years after the MEP has left the parliament. This means Brexit-supporting members such as Nigel Farage and Daniel Hannan, who first entered the parliament in 1999, will be able to claim for over €172,000.

Mr Farage, who has one of the worst attendance records in the history of the European Parliament, is already one of the best-paid MEPs because of his lucrative media contracts. He has declared his outside earnings to be between €590,048 and €790,000.

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British MEPs will also be entitled to half of the General Expenditure Allowance (GEA)- a €4,416 per month payment- for three months after Britain leaves the EU on March 29, 2019. The GEA is used to pay office and other expenses.

The document was given to British MEPs in late 2018, Politico said, and states that departing members will be able to claim for their trip back home as well as “six return journeys by air, rail or boat” in the run up to Britain’s departure date.

Although members must leave behind items given to them by the European Parliament such as laptop, iPad, office keys and voting card, they will be allowed to keep their badge.