Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper has ordered a review into what she described as “serious information failures” surrounding the case of British-Egyptian activist Alaa Abd el-Fattah, who was welcomed to the UK despite past tweets the government now calls “abhorrent”. In a letter to the foreign affairs select committee, Cooper said due diligence procedures had been “completely inadequate for this situation”.
Abd el-Fattah arrived in London on Boxing Day after the British government successfully negotiated his release from prison in Egypt, where he spent almost a decade detained for his political beliefs. Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he was “delighted” by his arrival, but a political storm erupted after social media posts from 2010 and 2012 resurfaced, including one in which he called for Zionists to be killed.
Downing Street defended its campaign for Abd el-Fattah’s release, with the prime minister’s spokesperson stating: “We welcome the return of a British citizen unfairly detained abroad, as we would in all cases… It doesn’t change the fact that we have condemned the nature of these historic tweets and we consider them to be abhorrent.” The spokesperson added that Starmer had not been aware of the tweets until after Abd el-Fattah entered the UK.
Abd el-Fattah has apologised “unequivocally” for his posts, but faced fresh criticism after his official Facebook account appeared to have liked a post suggesting a “Zionist campaign” against him. The Conservatives and Reform UK have called for his deportation and revocation of his citizenship, though government sources indicate he was eligible for citizenship through his mother without character checks, and case law provides no grounds for removal.
Emily Thornberry, Labour chair of the foreign affairs committee, said: “For those of us who campaigned for his release, it is extremely disappointing to see these tweets… That doesn’t mean, however, that it would be right to take away his nationality and send him back to Egypt.” Cooper has asked the Foreign Office’s top civil servant to review the information failures and systems for high-profile consular cases.
