New UK Parliament group formed to bolster ties with Egypt

An informal group in the UK Parliament has been reformed for the purpose of 'positive engagement' between Egypt and Britain, says the group's head

An All-Party Group (APG) in the UK Parliament with aims to promote ties between Egypt and Britain has been reformed, eight years after it was first dissolved due to a lack of financial support and interest from British MPs.
The 26 members of the APG come from different political parties across the UK Parliament's two chambers – the lower House of Commons and the upper House of Lords.
APGs are informal cross-party groups that have no official status within Parliament. They are essentially run by and for Members of the Commons and Lords.
Samir Takla, a British-Egyptian activist involved in the APG's reinstatement, told Ahram Online that it is too early to reveal the names of all the members.
The last APG on Egypt was dissolved in 2007 and had been provided administrative assistance from the Gulf Centre for Strategic Studies, according to the record of the UK Parliament.
“The APG is an important cross-party initiative which has attracted significant support in Parliament,” Robert Walter MP, the elected chair of the new group, told Ahram Online.
“The group will focus on strengthening relations between British and Egyptian parliamentarians and promoting British-Egyptian relations amongst members of both chambers of the UK Parliament,” he added.
Walter – Conservative MP for North Dorset – said he expects more MPs and Peers to join the new group.
He and the group's secretariat refused to comment on how the group will pay for its costs.
“We are in the process of registering the group with the Parliamentary Registrar for All-Party Groups, and this is all the information (including the fund) that can be made available at this stage,” the group's secretary Sarah Chilman said.
The Egyptian House, a London-based civil society organisation, welcomed the group and called for the Egyptian community in the UK to support it.
UK Parliament rules allow the group to involve individuals and organisations from outside Parliament in their administration and activities.
“We are ready to do our best to support the group”, said Mostafa Ragab, director of the Egyptian House.
The reformation of the APG on Egypt has been praised as a long-awaited potential platform to balance the influence in the UK of the Muslim Brotherhood and supporters of Egypt's ousted president Mohamed Morsi.
Ragab believes that although the group is informal, it will still have “an active role to challenge the misperceptions among British MPs and in public opinion about Egypt after 30 June [2013]," a reference to the mass protests against Morsi which led to his ouster by the military.
“As long as the group is committed to help serve the interests of the Egyptian people, the Egyptian House will look into any requests for help,” Ragab said.
Walter said he looks forward to “working with the group's members as we build a platform for positive engagement between our two countries.”
In late January, a delegation of eight MPs, Lords and UK politicians visited Egypt and met with the interim cabinet along with the heads of the Coptic Orthodox Church and Al-Azhar.
The delegation's visit, for the purpose of studying the impact of Egypt's newly ratified constitution, was funded by the Mohamed Farid Khamis Foundation, according to the UK Parliament's Register of Interests.
http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/98490.aspx