Sir Keir Starmer has “welcomed” the return of Alaa Abd El-Fattah after the controversial human rights activist spent years behind bars in an Egyptian prison.
The Prime Minister, who was not aware of the 44-year-old’s social media posts, appears to have ignored calls to deport Fattah after it revealed he had called for the murder of Zionists and voiced his hatred for white people.
“We welcome the return of a British citizen unfairly detained abroad,” a No10 spokesman said.
“However, we have condemned the nature of these historic tweets and find them abhorrent.”
GB News understands the Home Office does not comment on individual cases.
However, stripping someone of their British citizenship can only be used against terrorists, extremists or someone who has gained citizenship by fraud.
Shamima Begum, now 24, had her citizenship removed in 2019 after she left her home in Bethnal Green to join Islamic State.
Mr Fattah was granted British citizenship in 2021, following a concerted cross-party effort to free the 44-year-old from detainment.
Sir Keir Starmer spoke out about Mr Fattah in 2022
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Sir Iain Duncan Smith and Alicia Kearns this morning admitted they now regret their support for Mr Fattah.
However, the Prime Minister also publicly supported Mr Fattah in 2022.
In an exchange with then-Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Sir Keir said: “He is a British citizen jailed for the crime of posting on social media and has been imprisoned in Egypt for most of the last nine years; he has been on hunger strike for the last six months.
“The Prime Minister just said that he raised this case with President Sisi; what progress did he make in securing Alaa’s release?”
However, last night saw Mr Fattah face a fiery backlash after it emerged the Egyptian activist had made a series of antisemitic and anti-British social media posts.
Mr Fattah called for the murder of Zionists and admitted he “seriously hate[s] white people”.
Alaa Abdel Fattah returned to the UK on Boxing Day after being pardoned by Egyptian president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi | GETTY
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch and Reform UK leader Nigel Farage have both now urged Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood to look at whether Mr Fattah’s citizenship could be revoked to enable his swift removal from the UK.
Mr Farage said: “It should go without saying that anyone who possesses racist and anti-British views such as those of Mr el-Fattah should not be allowed into the UK.”
The Reform UK leader has since reported the UK citizen to counter-terror police.
Meanwhile, Mrs Badenoch added: “The comments he made on social media about violence against Jews, white people and the police among others are disgusting and abhorrent – they were also anti-British.”
Speaking to GB News this morning, Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp also called for Fattah’s removal after labelling the activist a “scumbag”.
Egyptian activist Alaa Abd el-Fattah has issued a grovelling apology for his social media posts | GETTY
Reform UK MP Danny Kruger also accused the Government of prioritising “either political virtue signalling or speeding up applications to clear the backlog” rather than “putting the British people first.
Labour MP Tom Rutland also opted to break ranks last night to put pressure on Sir Keir to take action.
“It is unclear to me why it has been a priority for successive governments to bring this guy over here,” Mr Rutland said.
“What kind of vetting is routinely done in these cases? His tweets are impressive in how they manage to be vile in such a variety of ways.”
Protesters gather to support handing Mr Fattah British citizenship
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Mr Fattah, who once described British people as “dogs and monkeys” and called for Londoners to burn Downing Street, was forced to issue a grovelling apology amid the furore.
The 44-year-old said: “I am shaken that, just as I am being reunited with my family for the first time in 12 years, several historic tweets of mine have been republished and used to question and attack my integrity and values, escalating to calls for the revocation of my citizenship.
‘Looking at the tweets now – the ones that were not completely twisted out of their meaning – I do understand how shocking and hurtful they are, and for that I unequivocally apologise.”
Mr Fattah was convicted in 2021 of “spreading fake news” in Egypt after sharing a Facebook post about torture in the country following a trial that human rights groups said was grossly unfair.
