mr president when i was first elected to this house eleven years ago it was regarded as somewhat eccentric verging on embarrassing particularly even within the epp i have to say that i frequently raised the issue of christian persecution in the islamic and communist worlds which i regret has only got worse since then
so i am delighted today that even some of the more aggressive and anti-clerical forces in this house have woken up to the existential threat to ancient christian faith communities such as the iraqi assyrians of which i am a patron in the uk and the egyptian copts
last saturday i stood outside ten downing street in london with my coptic constituents demanding that the uk government do more to pressurise egypt and its government to protect its own citizens
today i call upon you baroness ashton as the high representative of the european union to do likewise
