By David Furness
Alaa Abd El-Fattah was imprisoned in Egypt in 2019 for spreading false information after he shared a Facebook post about torture in the country. After being released from prison, he was banned from leaving Egypt. However, this travel ban was recently lifted, and he has now arrived in Britain.
Keir Starmer has welcomed Alaa Abd El-Fattah to Britain, despite the Egyptian’s social media posts that referred to British people as “dogs and monkeys.”
Other social media posts from Mr El-Fattah included highly offensive content, such as urging Londoners to burn down 10 Downing Street and calling for violence against police. Another message expressed hatred towards white people, highlighting the extremity of his views.
Yvette Cooper, the Foreign Secretary, wrote on X: “I am delighted that Alaa Abd El-Fattah has arrived in the UK. Alaa’s case has been a top priority for our Government.”
David Lammy, the Deputy Prime Minister and former Home Secretary, said in June that the campaign to bring Alaa Abd El-Fattah to Britain had been “a top priority every week that I have been in office.”
Mr El-Fattah was supported not only by politicians but also by actors and celebrities, including Emma Thompson, Stephen Fry, and Dame Judi Dench. His supporters said he was a ‘prisoner of conscience.’
Both the Labour government and its Conservative predecessors are expected to face pressure to explain why they campaigned for the release of Alaa Abd El-Fattah, who has a British-born mother, when his posts were already publicly accessible.
His social media posts cost him a nomination for the European Parliament’s Sakharov Prize in 2014. The organisation that supported him withdrew their nomination for the human rights award after discovering a tweet from 2012 in which he called for the murder of Israelis.
Despite this, he was granted British citizenship in 2021 by the Conservative Government, even though Mr El-Fattah had previously described himself as “far from British.”
Astonishingly, Jonathan Powell, the national security adviser, was involved in discussions with Badr Abdelatty, Egypt’s foreign minister, which helped bring Mr El-Fattah to the UK, raising questions about diplomatic influence and vetting.
Alaa Abd El-Fattah’s social media posts contained extreme, highly offensive views, raising questions about why such content was overlooked during the vetting process, given its potential to highlight security concerns. Even though the content of those posts was widely known, Starmer and his ministers claim they were unaware of them.
There was already widespread public concern about the Government’s vetting process for those it allows into the country, and this latest revelation has made the situation even more alarming.
There are urgent questions that need to be asked:
- What specific actions will the Government take in response to these revelations?
- How did the authorities miss these social media posts during their due diligence?
- What specific failures in vetting or due diligence allowed this situation to happen?
- Are there any security measures being considered to address potential risks posed by Mr El-Fattah?
- How will the Government address security risks posed by individuals with extremist views entering the UK?
- Who is responsible for the oversight, and will there be any internal review or consequences?
Lucy Connolly was sentenced to 31 months in jail due to a social media post. In contrast, Alaa Abd El-Fattah made social media posts that called for the death of Israelis, the burning down of 10 Downing Street, as well as attacking police and expressing hatred towards white people. Meanwhile, Labour politicians, actors, and celebrities have welcomed him with open arms. Welcome to Britain!
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