mr president tunisia's situation is overall a positive one it seems
they have the most stable society in north africa
they have what is technically a democracy though possibly only a semi-democracy by western standards but we should not criticise them for that since they have made much progress
there is an official policy of working towards full democracy and tunisia is a stable society with a high level of personal security
this has been achieved by the suppression of their islamist extremists and communists which is a price well worth paying
its official policy is the pursuit of cultural unity the creation of one nation
this is a lesson that many european countries including mine the united kingdom could well learn
economically they are progressing
only seven of the population lives below the poverty line
it has one of the best health standards among countries in north africa with a relatively high life expectancy
politically their constitution limits the number of seats a party can hold in the chamber of deputies with twenty of seats being reserved for minority parties
this looks positively enlightened when compared to the first past the post electoral system used in the united kingdom which in my opinion is a conspiracy against the voter to keep the conservative and labour parties in and everybody else out
so maybe we should learn something from the tunisians
speaking of the uk my party the uk independence party came in for some criticism from some islamic extremist and supposedly liberal quarters last week when we proposed a plan that people's faces should be uncovered in public buildings and in private buildings if those concerned wish to impose such a condition
but look at what tunisia did
law no one hundred and eight bans the hijab which goes much further than anybody else has proposed
the religious affairs minister boubaker el akhzouri has slammed the hijab as running counter to the country's cultural legacy regarding islamic dress as a foreign phenomenon in society
well that is very interesting coming out of an islamic country
the more i find out about tunisia the more positive an impression it makes
but i have seen some figures which indicate that eur seventy million is to be spent on key projects in the eu neighbourhood scheme
my constituents who are some of the poorest in london cannot afford that kind of expenditure
we want trade friendship and cooperation with tunisia but not at the price of robbing the taxpayer in the uk
let us help them increase their democracy and develop prosperity and if they would like to take some free advice let them keep well away from the european union and preserve their freedom and independence
