Editor's Note: Chris Deacon is a postgraduate researcher in politics and international relations at the University of London and has previously worked as an international commercial lawyer. The article reflects the author's opinions and not necessarily the views of CGTN.

Following the European elections in May, the next cohort of Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) took their seats for the first time on Tuesday in Strasbourg. The delegation of British MEPs includes 29 members of Nigel Farage's newly-formed Brexit Party.

Since their election, these Brexit Party MEPs have tried their hardest to create a negative impression of and protest against the very organization they have now joined. Their antics on Thursday took this to newly embarrassing levels.

As the parliamentary session began, the European Union's anthem Ode To Joy was played and sung by a group of young musicians in the chamber. As is customary, at this point MEPs stood up to respect the anthem. The Brexit Party MEPs, however, chose to turn their backs on the playing musicians.

As protests go, this was particularly childish and disrespectful. MEPs have a right to be opposed to the existence of an anthem, which carries with it suggestions of the EU as a single federal state. They could have shown this by declining to stand – as did other MEPs – or made a statement that they did not support the existence of an anthem. But to turn their backs, particularly when the music was being performed live, was little more than a pathetic stunt designed to anger and upset fellow Europeans.

This particular form of protest is not unprecedented. Farage's former party, the UK Independence Party (UKIP), also did it at the start of the 2014 European Parliament session. Tuesday's behavior, however, comes in the context of a clearly planned but poorly executed attempt by the Brexit Party to discredit the European Union and its institutions from the moment they were elected.

As Brexit Party MEPs began to become acquainted with their new role, one such MEP, for example, wrote on Twitter that she was disgusted with the provision of iPads to all MEPs – something she considered a waste of money and part of the Brussels' "gravy train." It was quickly pointed out by EU officials that the provision of these iPads had actually cut costs drastically, as official papers and the like no longer needed to be printed in such quantities for distribution to MEPs. It was also much better for the environment to avoid printing so much.

Another Brexit Party MEP this week, on his way to Strasbourg for Tuesday's session, took to Twitter to complain about how convoluted his train journey to the French city was going to be, blaming the "inaccessible" location of the Parliament. The general ridiculousness of this point aside – clearly no single location in an entire continent will be accessible to all in one smooth train journey, it was also quickly pointed out that the difficulty of travel for this particular MEP was caused almost entirely by his own location in the UK.

Perhaps worse still, there are valid criticisms to be made of the location of the EU Parliament – or, more accurately, Parliaments in the plural; there are two. The whole operation has to decamp from its usual location of Brussels to Strasbourg once a month. This is a huge endeavor as a huge number of files have to move with the MEPs themselves and their staff. Everyone in Europe realizes the ridiculousness of the situation, but altering it would require treaty changes – something the EU is terrified of as it would require referenda in multiple member states.

If the Brexit Party was halfway competent, they would be attacking inefficiencies in the EU bureaucracy such as this. Instead, they focus on inaccurate and laughable talking points that embarrass not only them, but also their country.

It would be unfair not to mention that the Liberal Democrat MEPs on Tuesday also pulled a stunt by wearing matching t-shirts in the Parliament with the phrases "stop Brexit" and "bollocks to Brexit" written on them. Perhaps some of the same criticisms should be leveled at them but they, at least, were making a valid political point through well-natured protest – although one might question the appropriateness of the latter phrasing in a parliament.

This, however, is representative of the shallowness and, often, the coarseness of the debate regarding Brexit that now exists. Whatever side MEPs and other politicians are on, they should do well to remember that they are representing their country on the public stage and think twice before pulling embarrassing stunts again.

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