Nigel Farage returns to European Parliament, is openly mocked by MEPs

Oh how he probably wishes he was in Westminster. As scores of new MPs are being sworn into the House of Commons this week, spare a thought (or not) for Nigel Farage, who's spending his time in Strasbourg.

He hasn't exactly received the warmest welcome back. The Ukip leader was openly mocked by fellow MEPs on Wednesday for his failure to win a seat in the general election and for his so-called "unresignation".

A chuckling Guy Verhofstadt, a Belgian MEP who leads the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) group, addressed parliament over Farage's poor showing on 7 May:

He is a man of his word. Nigel Farage has sent a letter to Nigel Farage, saying ‘I resign’ and Nigel Farage has responded to Nigel Farage saying ‘I refuse’. That’s the way how it works there.

• Guy Verhofstadt

Separately, German MEP Manfred Weber addressed the chamber saying he would like to welcome back "the loser of elections, the big election loser in the UK".

The British voters didn’t vote for him and I have to say that Mr Farage has lost credibility because he announced that if the British voters didn’t vote for him, then he would stand down as party leader.

You didn’t keep your electoral promise, Mr Farage. You are still here in your capacity as party leader and you've broken a very important promise that you made in your election campaign. So welcome back.

• Manfred Weber

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