Gordon Banks returns to Egypt to continue his work with the Westminster Foundation for Democracy

December 2007

Ochil & South Perthshire MP Gordon Banks returned to Cairo recently as part of a UK Parliamentary Campaign run under the auspices of the Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD). Mr Banks was accompanied by ex Tory MP Michael Trend, the House of Commons Principal Clerk of Select Committees and a representative of the think tank, Reform. Members and officials of the Indian and Lebanese Parliaments also attended and participated in the workshop.

The workshop falls within the thirty month programme funded by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s Global Opportunities Fund through the Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD).

Mr Banks said – “I was pleased to return to Egypt to continue the work that I started in March when I participated in an assessment visit. The whole project is designed to improve the effectiveness of new Egyptian MPs and their relationship with their constituents, Government and the media. The MPs have already visited Westminster to see first hand how democracy works in the UK and I understand that the Speaker of the Egyptian Parliament, Ahmed Fathi Sorour will be visiting Westminster in January.”

“I firmly believe that developing and supporting democracy in the region is vital and we should be doing all we can in the West to support and offer advice where appropriate to allow democracy to flourish. There are huge challenges facing Egypt, both domestically and internationally, and I am hopeful that the expansion of democracy will assist those charged with managing the decisions.”

“The work plan has been carried out through a mixture of training sessions, workshops and study visits and has been developed through consultation with key stakeholders in Egypt. On my recent visit, I led discussions on how MP’s can influence the budgetary process and on the role of Select Committees in the UK. This was an excellent event and the speakers were well received. I look forward to working with Egyptian MPs and stakeholders in the future.