𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

The “embarrassing failures” surrounding the welcome to the UK of an Egyptian activist accused of having supported the killing of Zionists and police officers could have been avoided if the Foreign Office had delivered on a key commitment, Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper has been told. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer condemned social media comments by Alaa Abd El Fattah as “absolutely abhorrent” – just days after he said he was “delighted” at the arrival of the formerly imprisoned campaigner.

Dame Emily Thornberry, who chairs the Foreign Affairs select committee, states in a public letter to Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper that if the Government had delivered on a commitment to appoint an envoy for “complex detention cases” more than a year ago, then “it is clear to me that such embarrassing failures of due diligence and information sharing would have been avoided”. Dame Emily said it “would have been firmly within the envoy’s remit to carry out appropriate background and social media checks”. The Conservatives and Reform UK want Mr Abd El Fattah removed from the UK following the discovery of offensive messages, including one from 2012 in which he appears to say he considers “killing any colonialists and specially Zionists heroic”.

The Foreign Secretary has said ministers were never briefed on the messages and there has been an “unacceptable failure”.

In her letter to Ms Cooper, Dame Emily states: “Your recognition of the distress caused to Jewish communities, particularly in the context of rising antisemitism in the UK and internationally, is necessary and welcome.”

Mr Abd El Fattah has apologised for his online messages, saying: “I do understand how shocking and hurtful they are, and for that I unequivocally apologise.”