Sir Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister, has refused to directly apologise for expressing "delight" over the arrival of British-Egyptian activist Alaa Abd El-Fattah in the UK, despite the subsequent surfacing of the activist's "abhorrent" historical social media posts. Starmer initially welcomed El-Fattah's return, stating he was "delighted" he had been reunited with his loved ones, following years of diplomatic efforts by both Conservative and Labour governments to secure his release from Egyptian detention.
The controversy stems from El-Fattah's past tweets, dating back to 2010, which reportedly contained calls for violence against Zionists and the police, and expressed hatred towards white people. These posts were widely criticised, with opposition figures like Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick describing Starmer's initial welcome as a "complete disgrace" and calling for El-Fattah to be stripped of his British citizenship. The Jewish Leadership Council also expressed alarm at the "effusive welcome" given the content of the posts.
In response to the backlash, Starmer acknowledged "regret" over his initial comments, stating he was unaware of the controversial posts when he made them and was "not very happy" about the lack of information. He pointed to a "failing within the system" and confirmed that a review was being conducted by Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper into these "serious information failures." El-Fattah, who was granted UK citizenship in 2021 while imprisoned and was a leading voice in the 2011 Arab Spring uprising, has since apologised "unequivocally" for his past posts. Despite calls from some politicians to revoke his citizenship, government sources have indicated that his social media posts do not meet the legal threshold for such a sanction. His previous controversial statements had also led to the withdrawal of his nomination for the European Parliament's Sakharov Prize in 2014.