A political row over a British-Egyptian activist’s “abhorrent” posts on social media have overshadowed his reunion with his 14-year-old son who lives in Brighton.
The Foreign Secretary said that she had ordered a review of “serious information failures” in the consular case of Alaa Abd El-Fattah after the emergence of his social media posts.
Yvette Cooper said that successive prime ministers were not briefed on the tweets dating back to 2010 and that the civil servants overseeing the case had also been “unaware” of them.
Mr Abd El-Fattah, who was recently released after years of detention in Egypt, had appeared to call for violence against Zionists and the police in a series of online comments.
The Conservatives and Reform UK have both suggested that he should be stripped of his British citizenship as a result. He was granted citizenship in 2021, having been entitled to apply because his mother was born in Britain.
It is understood that the government has no current plans to revoke Mr Abd El-Fattah’s citizenship and the law does not appear to provide grounds to deport him.
In a letter to Dame Emily Thornberry, who chairs the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, Ms Cooper said that long-standing procedures and due diligence arrangements had been “completely inadequate” in the Abd El-Fattah case and that the government viewed the tweets as “abhorrent.”
The Foreign Secretary said: “In the context of rising anti-semitism and recent horrific attacks against Jewish people in this country and around the world, I am deeply concerned that the unexpected emergence of these historical tweets – coming alongside the social media posts that I and other senior politicians sent on Boxing Day welcoming the conclusion of this long-running case and Mr El Fattah’s reunion with his family – have added to the distress felt by Jewish communities in the UK, and I very much regret that.
“I have asked the permanent under-secretary as a matter of urgency to review the serious information failures in this case and more broadly the systems that are in place within the department for conducting due diligence on the individual high-profile consular and human rights cases for which the (Foreign Office) is responsible to ensure that those systems are functioning properly for the future and that all necessary lessons are learned.”
After Mr Abd El-Fattah was jailed in 2019 for charges of spreading false news, his case was branded a breach of international law by UN investigators.
He was pardoned by the Egyptian president Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi in September this year after years of advocating by Conservative and Labour governments.
Even then, Mr Abd El-Fattah was made the subject of a travel ban. He flew to Britain on Boxing Day and was reunited with his son, who lives in Brighton, after the travel ban was lifted.
Politicians including the Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer welcomed his return last week but Downing Street said that the Prime Minister had not been aware of the activist’s historical tweets until after he re-entered the country.
Mr Abd El-Fattah has since has apologised, saying that he understood “how shocking and hurtful” his previous comments were.
No 10 defended the government’s handling of the case amid calls from opposition critics for the activist to be deported.
Downing Street told reporters: “We welcome the return of a British citizen unfairly detained abroad as we would in all cases and as we have done in the past. That is central to Britain’s commitment to religious and political freedom.
“That said, it doesn’t change the fact that we have condemned the nature of these historic tweets and we consider them to be abhorrent and we’ve been very clear about that.”
Officials within government appear to believe that there are no grounds for removing Mr Abd El-Fattah’s citizenship. Case law has established that this can be done only in circumstances of fraud or cases involving dangerous criminals and terrorists.
In a statement, Mr Abd El-Fattah said: “I unequivocally apologise.
“(The posts) were mostly expressions of a young man’s anger and frustrations in a time of regional crises (the wars on Iraq, on Lebanon and Gaza) and the rise of police brutality against Egyptian youth.
“I particularly regret some that were written as part of online insult battles with the total disregard for how they read to other people. I should have known better.”
His sister Mona Seif defended him in a tweet yesterday (Monday 29 December), saying that he “spoke consistently out loud against violence committed by all entities and groups – friends and foe”.
She said: “There is something incredibly heartbreaking and infuriating to be witnessing this vile campaign against him – and our family – with people portraying him as something completely opposite to who he really is and while he paid a steep price for his convictions.”
Downing Street earlier appeared content with Mr Abd El-Fattah’s apology and the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said that it was “fairly fulsome”.
He continued: “That’s clearly the right thing to do.”
Conservative Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp earlier labelled his statement an “insincere apology” as he called for the Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood to strip Mr Abd El-Fattah of his citizenship.
Reform UK, which also called for Mr Abd El-Fattah’s deportation, criticised the Conservatives for not having scrutinised his past social media more when they started diplomatic efforts to bring him to Britain.
The party said: “Alaa Abd El-Fattah was granted British citizenship in 2021 by Boris Johnson’s government. Liz Truss and James Cleverly both personally intervened in his case.
“Kemi Badenoch was minister of state for local government, faith and communities when Alaa Abd El-Fattah was granted citizenship.
“The Conservatives cannot be trusted.”
Veteran Labour MP John McDonnell raised Mr Abd El-Fattah’s case in Parliament several times during his imprisonment.
In a statement to the Press Association, Mr McDonnell, who represents Hayes and Harlington, suggested that the activist had been on a “political journey” since he was a “furious young man”.
He added: “His appalling social media interventions were the product of that anger and had been exposed over a decade ago.
“But that’s the point – Alaa’s journey was from someone who could send these vile tweets to becoming an advocate for dignity, respect and human rights for all, a defender of the oppressed and persecuted no matter what their religion, gender or sexuality.”
Mr McDonnell said that the Foreign Office “must have known” about the posts as well.
He told Channel 4 News: “I’m sure the Foreign Office, in advising the Prime Minister and other ministers, must have known the history of this and therefore they must have taken the same conclusion as me.”
A collection of Mr Abd El-Fattah’s writings was published in 2001 in his book You Have Not Yet Been Defeated.
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