Verbatim report of proceedings

Thursday, 24 October 2019 - Strasbourg

Egypt

  Ben Habib (NI). – Mr President, when President el-Sisi became President of Egypt in 2014 he had a basic contract with the people of Egypt, which was to deliver stability, security and economic prosperity, in return for near total control.

It was a very similar contract to the one that the EU has taken upon itself for the people of the European Union. That contract is all well and good for as long as stability, security and economic prosperity continue, and like the European Union, the wheels came off in Egypt, and his response to the wheels coming off the economy was to tighten his grip on power, to tighten his grip on the people. And the European Union's response is exactly the same – it wishes to tighten its grip every time something goes wrong.

And here's a warning. Do not tighten your grip anymore. We may be a long way from Egypt at the moment, but we will fast catch up. Loosen your grip.