I was held in the Mazra Tora Prison for my role as leader of the pan-Islamist organisation Hizb ut-Tahrir in Alexandria.

I was in prison with the assassins of the former president of Egypt, Anwar Sadat, who was killed in 1981. Those who weren't executed in that case were given life sentences, and two of those were with me in prison.

By the age of 24, I found myself convicted in prison in Egypt, being blacklisted from three countries in the world for attempting to overthrow their governments, being subjected to torture in Egyptian jails, and sentenced to five years as a prisoner of conscience.

Rather than allowing jihadists to shut down debate, it must proliferate so much that they simply cannot kill us all.

Let me make this clear: it is our duty to adopt a policy barring the wearing of niqabs in these public buildings.

No idea is above scrutiny and no people are beneath dignity.