Labour MP questions Keir Starmer’s Alaa Abd El Fattah decision | Politics | News
A Labour MP has publicly questioned the decision to welcome British-Egyptian activist Alaa Abd El-Fattah to the UK, raising concerns over what checks were carried out before his return and criticising what he described as โvileโ historic social media posts.
Tom Rutland, the Labour MP for East Worthing and Shoreham, asked why successive governments had prioritised bringing Mr Abd El-Fattah to Britain, and what vetting had been carried out. Writing on social media, Mr Rutland said it was โunclearโ why the case had been treated as a priority and asked what background checks were โroutinely done in these casesโ.
He added that Mr Abd El-Fattahโs past tweets were โimpressive in how they manage to be vile in such a variety of waysโ.
The comments follow renewed scrutiny of Mr Abd El-Fattahโs online history after historic posts emerged in which he appeared to call for violence against Zionists. The posts have sparked criticism from across the political spectrum since his release and return to the UK.
Mr Abd El-Fattah, a dual British-Egyptian national, was arrested in Egypt in 2019 and later sentenced to five years in prison on charges of spreading false news.
His detention was condemned by UN investigators as a breach of international law, and his case became a prominent international human rights issue. He was released in September after receiving a presidential pardon from Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi.
The UK Government confirmed that Mr Abd El-Fattah is a British citizen and said efforts to secure his release had been a long-standing priority under both Labour and Conservative governments.
A Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office spokesperson said: โMr 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 El-Fattahโs historic tweets and considers them to be abhorrent.”
Sir Keir was allegedly not aware of the historic posts when he welcomed Mr Abd El-Fattahโs release.
Mr Abd El-Fattah was a prominent figure during Egyptโs 2011 Arab Spring uprising and undertook hunger strikes while imprisoned, drawing international attention to his case.
