The iconic ‘he’s lying to you’ sign used to mock Nigel Farage during a parliamentary debate is to go on display at the House of European History in Brussels.
Labour MEP Seb Dance scrawled the note during a debate in February 2017, not long after Britain’s vote to leave the European Union, in a moment he has described as of “pure rage and anger”.
“I decided I had to try to do something and, noticing the empty chair behind him, I made a sudden decision to grab a piece of paper and scrawl a simple message on it,” he explained at the time.
The images went viral around the world, tapping into a frustration their opponents felt about Brexiteers’ conduct before, during, and after the EU referendum campaign.
The sign will be displayed alongside other objects and documents related to Britain’s contribution and departure from the European Union.
Talking to The Independent, Mr Dance said: “I loaned the House of European History my sign as I thought it provided another side of the Brexit story.
“It is of course (so far) a victory for Mr Farage, but there is and will always be opposition to his brand of politics.
“Its ascendency now is a threat to all of those who believe in liberal democracy, multilateralism and solidarity among nations.
“It was a moment of pure rage and anger against populism and my hope was that it would play whatever small part in making people question what he says.”
The incident happened during a debate in which Mr Farage argued in favour of Donald Trump’s immigration policy, whose implementation he argued represented “genuine democracy”.
Related: Speaker of the House of Commons exclusive: “Brexit has opened up the fractures of this country”
