Cooper orders Foreign Office review of ‘serious failures’ in El-Fattah case

Yvette Cooper has ordered an urgent Foreign Office review of “serious information failures” in the consular case of Alaa Abd El-Fattah after the emergence of his “abhorrent” social media posts.

The Foreign Secretary said successive prime ministers were not briefed on the tweets dating back as far as 2010 and that civil servants in charge of the case were also “unaware” of them.

The activist, who was recently released after years of detention in Egypt, had appeared to call for violence against Zionists and the police in a series of online comments.

The Conservatives and Reform UK have both suggested he should have his British citizenship stripped for the posts, though it is understood there are no current plans for this and the law does not appear to provide grounds to deport him.

In a letter to chairwoman of the Foreign Affairs Committee Dame Emily Thornberry, Ms Cooper said that long-standing procedures and due diligence arrangements had been “completely inadequate” in the case.

“In the context of rising antisemitism, and recent horrific attacks against Jewish people in this country and around the world, I am deeply concerned that the unexpected emergence of these historical tweets – coming alongside the social media posts that I and other senior politicians sent on Boxing Day welcoming the conclusion of this long-running case and Mr El Fattah’s reunion with his family – have added to the distress felt by Jewish communities in the UK, and I very much regret that,” she said.

“I have asked the permanent under secretary as a matter of urgency to review the serious information failures in this case and more broadly the systems that are in place within the department for conducting due diligence on the individual high-profile consular and human-rights cases for which the FCDO is responsible, to ensure that those systems are functioning properly for the future, and that all necessary lessons are learned.”

Mr Abd El-Fattah was granted UK citizenship in December 2021 under former Conservative prime minister Boris Johnson, reportedly through his British-born mother.

His imprisonment for charges of spreading false news was branded a breach of international law by UN investigators and he was pardoned by Egyptian president Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi in September after years of advocating by Conservative and Labour governments.

He flew to the UK on Boxing Day and was reunited with his son, who lives in Brighton, after a travel ban was lifted.

Politicians including Sir Keir Starmer welcomed his return last week but Downing Street said the Prime Minister had been unaware of the activist’s historical tweets until after he re-entered the country.

Mr Abd El-Fattah has since has apologised, saying he understands “how shocking and hurtful” his previous comments were.

No 10 defended the Government’s handling of the case amid calls from opposition critics for the activist to be deported.

“We welcome the return of a British citizen unfairly detained abroad, as we would in all cases and as we have done in the past,” the Prime Minister’s official spokesman told reporters.

He continued: “That is central to Britain’s commitment to religious and political freedom.

“That said, it doesn’t change the fact that we have condemned the nature of these historic tweets and we consider them to be abhorrent, and we’ve been very clear about that.”

Asked whether the Government was considering steps to remove Mr Abd El-Fattah’s citizenship, No 10 said: “Clearly, we don’t get into individual citizenship cases.”

Officials within Government appear to believe there are no grounds for removing Mr Abd El-Fattah’s citizenship, as case law has established this can only be done in circumstances of fraud or against dangerous criminals and terrorists.

In a statement, Mr Abd El-Fattah said: “I unequivocally apologise.

“(The posts) were mostly expressions of a young man’s anger and frustrations in a time of regional crises (the wars on Iraq, on Lebanon and Gaza), and the rise of police brutality against Egyptian youth.

“I particularly regret some that were written as part of online insult battles with the total disregard for how they read to other people. I should have known better.”

Downing Street appeared content with Mr Abd El-Fattah’s apology and the Prime Minister’s official spokesman described it as “fairly fulsome”.

He continued: “That’s clearly the right thing to do.”

Conservative shadow home secretary Chris Philp labelled his statement an “insincere apology” as he called for Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood to strip Mr Abd El-Fattah of his citizenship.

Reform UK, which also called for Mr Abd El-Fattah’s deportation, criticised the Conservatives for not having scrutinised his past social media more when they started diplomatic efforts to bring him to the UK.

A Reform spokesman said: “Alaa Abd El-Fattah was granted British citizenship in 2021 by Boris Johnson’s government. Liz Truss and James Cleverly both personally intervened on his case.

“Kemi Badenoch was minister of state for local government, faith and communities when Alaa Abd El-Fattah was granted citizenship.

“The Conservatives cannot be trusted.”

John McDonnell, Labour MP for Hayes and Harlington, raised Mr Abd El-Fattah’s case in Parliament several times during his imprisonment.

In a statement sent to the Press Association, he suggested the activist had been on a “political journey” since he was a “furious young man”.

He added: “His appalling social media interventions were the product of that anger and had been exposed over a decade ago.

“But that’s the point – Alaa’s journey was from someone who could send these vile tweets to becoming an advocate for dignity, respect and human rights for all, a defender of the oppressed and persecuted no matter what their religion, gender or sexuality.”

Mr McDonnell said the Foreign Office “must have known” about the posts as well.

“I’m sure the Foreign Office, in advising the Prime Minister and other ministers, must have known the history of this and therefore they must have taken the same conclusion as me,” he told Channel 4 News.

A collection of Mr Abd El-Fattah’s writings was published in his 2021 book, You Have Not Yet Been Defeated.