Sarah Ludford (ALDE). - Madam President, I am very pleased to join this cross-party debate and I am also pleased that we have abandoned the unacceptable old practice of talking about female circumcision. Female genital mutilation much better conveys the full horror of the practice – that it is child abuse, even child torture. The estimates of girls at risk in the UK range from 20 000 to 65 000. This figure comes from recent research.

65 000 girls at risk in the UK? It is completely unacceptable that this should be even remotely tolerated. The press in the UK today is reporting that prosecution is imminent in the UK. Well, we have had it criminalised for decades in Britain, but there have been no successful prosecutions. I am glad that the Crown Prosecution Service, which is actually now led by a woman, has established a network of specialised prosecutors around the country and I think they are upping their game, but it does, as others have said, rely a great deal on education and awareness.

The time is absolutely ripe for an EU-wide initiative. I am proud that a party colleague of mine in the UK, the Liberal Democrat Minister for international development, Lynne Featherstone, has committed GBP 35 million internationally to fighting FGM and has recently visited Burkina Faso.

Today at 11 a.m. UK time – midday here – there will be a Twitter thunderclap campaign to end FGM within a generation. Please join it.