No 10 Defends Campaign to Release Abd el-Fattah Despite Controversial Tweets
Alaa Abd el-Fattah arrived in London on Boxing Day after a government-negotiated release. Downing Street defended the campaign to welcome him despite his past tweets, stating that welcoming a British citizen abroad is central to freedom, though condemning the tweets as abhorrent.
Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper launched a review into "serious information failures" related to the Abd el-Fattah case, highlighting completely inadequate due diligence procedures. She has asked the Foreign Office's top civil servant to examine the information and high-profile consular processes involved.
Past social media posts from Abd el-Fattah included calls for violence against Zionists, racist remarks, and insults towards police and Britain. The government acknowledged these tweets as abhorrent but maintained that they did not change the decision to welcome him to the UK.
Officials indicated Abd el-Fattah was eligible for British citizenship through his mother and that character checks were not required. Case law suggested there were no grounds to revoke his citizenship.
Conservative and Reform UK leaders have urged deportation and revocation of his citizenship, although current law does not appear to provide such avenues.
Labour MPs criticized the tweets but called for a measured response. Emily Thornberry said that dissolution of nationality would be inappropriate, while John McDonnell noted Abd el-Fattah's political transformation since the Arab Spring.
Abd el-Fattah issued an apology, stating that his past posts reflected youthful anger during regional crises, expressing regret for some and emphasizing his seriousness about antisemitism and his commitment to human rights for minorities.
Abd el-Fattah has been a prominent figure in Egypt's 2011 Arab Spring and has spent much of the past decade in prison for his campaigning.
