Sir Keir Starmer is under mounting pressure to revoke the British citizenship of an alleged Islamist extremist.
Alaa Abd el-Fattah, who has called for Zionists to be killed, was welcomed to the UK by the Prime Minister over the weekend.
Mr Abd el-Fattah, an Egyptian activist jailed by Cairo from 2019 until September, was granted British citizenship in 2021 through his mother, who was born in Britain.
However, “abhorrent” posts from his social media account calling repeatedly for the killing of Zionists and describing British people as “dogs and monkeys” have since emerged, raising questions over successive governments’ failure to vet him.
Labour and the Conservatives insisted on Sunday that they had not previously been aware of Mr Abd el-Fattah’s social media rants, despite his nomination for an EU diplomacy prize being withdrawn in 2014 over tweets calling for the deaths of Israelis.
The Telegraph can reveal that Mr Abd el-Fattah obtained citizenship without going through “good character” checks because of a loophole created by the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).
Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader, led demands on Sunday night for the Government to cancel Mr Abd el-Fattah’s citizenship and deport him, in a letter to Shabana Mahmood, the Home Secretary.
Social media posts allegedly written by Alaa Abd el-Fattah between 2010 and 2012 circulated online after his arrival in the UK
Mr Farage said the Prime Minister’s decision to welcome the Egyptian activist to the UK represented “an extraordinary error of judgment”, writing: “It should go without saying that anyone who possesses racist and anti-British views such as those of Mr Abd el-Fattah should not be allowed into the UK.
“As Home Secretary, it is within your power to revoke his citizenship and order his deportation. I strongly urge you to do so.”
Mr Farage added that he had reported Mr Abd el-Fattah to counter-terror police.
On Friday, Sir Keir said he was delighted to welcome Mr Abd el-Fattah to Britain after Cairo lifted a travel ban. Shortly afterwards, social media posts made between 2010 and 2012 began to circulate online.
In the messages, published on his X account, Mr Abd el-Fattah urged Londoners to burn Downing Street, told his supporters to kill police and said that he hated white people.
Mr Abd el-Fattah was jailed six years ago for what the Egyptian authorities described as “spreading fake news” in a Facebook post about torture in the country.
Alaa Abd el-Fattah stands in a cage in a Cairo courtroom after a street protest during the 2013 Arab Spring – AP
The Conservatives and Labour both campaigned for his release, which finally came in September following a presidential pardon.
However, he was blocked from travelling to the UK because Egypt refused to recognise his dual nationality.
Automatic citizenship
Mr Abd el-Fattah was automatically granted British citizenship in 2021 under an immigration law which allows mothers to transmit their UK citizenship to their children, even if they are outside Britain.
His mother was born in London while his grandmother was studying in the UK.
Until 2019, applicants using this route were still subject to a good character test, which critics said Mr Abd el-Fattah would probably have failed on extremism grounds.
But the law was changed after the Supreme Court ruled that the requirement was incompatible with the ECHR, following a legal challenge by a foreign murderer.
The change meant Mr Abd el-Fattah was not subject to the test, which is usually applied by Home Office officials to applicants for British nationality.
Official guidance says they should usually reject applications where the person has expressed “vocal or active” opposition to British values.
Laila Soueif, Alaa Abd el-Fattah’s mother, protesting against his detention in London early this year – Isabel Infantes/Reuters
These include “democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and the mutual respect and tolerance of different faiths and beliefs”.
The guidance states: “A person who has engaged in unacceptable behaviour will normally be refused British citizenship, unless they have publicly retracted their views and it is clear that they have not re-engaged in such behaviour.”
Mr Abd el-Fattah also did not have to take the Life In The UK Test, an exam about British history and values which most migrants have to take to secure citizenship.
Call to leave ECHR
The row has triggered fresh calls from the Conservatives to leave the ECHR, a move to which Labour is opposed.
Robert Jenrick, the shadow justice secretary, said: “That membership of the ECHR forced Britain to drop the ‘good character’ test and contributed to allowing this Britain-hating extremist to get citizenship demonstrates once again why we need to leave this broken organisation and set our own laws.”
Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, added: “This despicable extremist should be stripped of British citizenship and never be allowed back in the UK.
“It is shameful that the ECHR was abused to allow this scumbag to get British citizenship without the usual checks – which would have exposed his extremism.
“This is yet another case that shows why we must urgently leave the ECHR in order to get control of our borders, deport foreign criminals and illegal immigrants and prevent extremists like this from getting citizenship.”
Jewish groups have also called for Mr Abd el-Fattah’s citizenship to be revoked, including the campaign group Labour Against Anti-Semitism and the Campaign Against Anti-Semitism.
No 10 revealed on Sunday that Sir Keir had been unaware of the “abhorrent” views expressed by Mr Abd el-Fattah when he publicly welcomed him to Britain, where he was due to be reunited with his 14-year-old son.
The Prime Minister is understood to have been alerted to the “extremist” social media posts only after they began widely circulating online.
It is understood that other senior Cabinet ministers who lobbied for his release including Yvette Cooper, the Foreign Secretary, and David Lammy, the Deputy Prime Minister, were unaware of his previously expressed views.
Jonathan Powell, the national security adviser who provoked controversy over his ties to China and integral role in the Chagos Islands deal, had been involved in talks to release him in recent months.
Supported by Sunak
Senior Tories including Rishi Sunak, Boris Johnson and Liz Truss all previously supported diplomatic efforts to get Mr Abd el-Fattah released from jail.
Sir James Cleverly, the former foreign secretary, led the representations to the Egyptians for the Tories. He now serves in Kemi Badenoch’s shadow cabinet.
Sir Iain Duncan Smith, the former Tory leader, said on Sunday that he regretted his previous support for Mr Abd el-Fattah and called on the police to investigate the comments.
Alicia Kearns, a Conservative MP who previously campaigned for Mr Abd el-Fattah’s release “as a British citizen”, echoed his regret, saying on Sunday night that she had “trusted the process to give Alaa citizenship, and then supported the campaign for his release”.
She added: “I feel deeply let down, and frankly betrayed, having lent my support to his cause which I now regret.”
However, Mr Abd el-Fattah’s social media remarks have caused controversy before, including in 2014 when his nomination for the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought was withdrawn over a tweet appearing to call for the deaths of “a critical number of Israelis”.
A Foreign Office spokesman said: “Mr Abd el-Fattah is a British citizen. It has been a long-standing priority under successive governments to work for his release from detention and to see him reunited with his family in the UK.
“The Government condemns Mr Abd el-Fattah’s historic tweets and considers them to be abhorrent.”
