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The case of British-Egyptian activist Alaa Abd El Fattah has prompted Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper to initiate a review addressing what she describes as “serious information failures.” In a letter to the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, Cooper revealed that she, alongside Sir Keir Starmer and Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy, had been unaware of Abd El Fattah’s past social media activity, which they regard as “abhorrent.” This development follows calls from the Conservatives and Reform UK to revoke Abd El Fattah’s UK citizenship and deport him, triggered by the resurfacing of tweets in which he appeared to advocate violence against Zionists.
Sir Keir Starmer faced criticism after expressing that he was “delighted” by Abd El Fattah’s return to the UK last Friday, several months following his release from prison in Egypt. By Monday, Sir Keir had condemned the controversial tweets as “absolutely abhorrent” and confirmed that the government was taking action to investigate the breakdowns in information handling related to the case. Acknowledging the wider impact, he noted the distress caused to the Jewish community amid a rise in antisemitism and recent violent incidents. In response, Conservative shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick renewed demands for Abd El Fattah to be removed from the country, while Reform UK’s leader Nigel Farage pledged to amend legislation to enable citizenship revocation and deportation, accusing past governments of opening “our doors to evil people.”
In her detailed correspondence with the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, Cooper disclosed that investigations had uncovered that prior foreign secretaries and prime ministers had publicly commented on Abd El Fattah’s situation without full access to all pertinent information. She emphasized that neither current nor former ministers had been briefed about the problematic tweets, nor were the responsible civil servants aware of them. Cooper characterized this as an “unacceptable failure,” criticizing the inadequacy of the established due diligence protocols for such sensitive consular and human rights matters. Deeply regretful, she expressed concern that the newfound visibility of these tweets, combined with government messages welcoming Abd El Fattah’s return, had caused additional pain within the Jewish community. To address these failings, she asked the highest-ranking Foreign Office civil servant to conduct a thorough review of both the case itself and the broader governmental procedures ensuring appropriate diligence in similar high-profile cases.
The controversy also includes direct references to specific tweets dating back to 2012, wherein Abd El Fattah allegedly declared himself a racist disliking white people, described killing colonialists and Zionists as “heroic,” and advocated killing police officers. Abd El Fattah has “unequivocally” apologized for these posts, acknowledging the shock and hurt they caused and stating that some of his statements had been “completely twisted out of their meaning.” Speaking about the renewed public scrutiny just as he was reunited with his family after 12 years, he expressed that the attacks on his integrity were deeply unsettling. His sister, Mona Seif, described the ongoing situation as a “never ending nightmare,” condemning the “vile campaign” against her brother and the misrepresentation of his character despite the sacrifices he had made for his beliefs
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