Yvette Cooper has ordered an urgent Foreign Office review into “serious information failures” surrounding the case of a democracy activist who recently arrived in the UK after years of imprisonment in Egypt, following the emergence of several “abhorrent” social media posts.
Alaa Abd el-Fattah has faced growing calls to be deported after the emergence of several historic tweets which appeared to call for violence against Zionists and police.
The foreign secretary claimed successive prime ministers and civil servants involved in the case were “unaware” of the social media posts, some dating back to 2010.
Despite calls from the Conservatives and Reform UK to strip his British citizenship, there are currently no such plans, and the law does not appear to provide grounds for his deportation.
In a letter to the chair 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.
She said she is “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 Abd 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.”
The foreign secretary said she has asked the department’s permanent under secretary to urgently 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”.
The review, she said, is aimed at ensuring 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.
Responding to historic tweets, Alaa today says:
— Free Alaa (@FreedomForAlaa) December 29, 2025
"I am shaken that, just as I am being reunited with my family for the first time in 12 years, several historic tweets of mine have been republished and used to question and attack my integrity and values, escalating to calls for…
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 No 10 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 apologised, saying he understands “how shocking and hurtful” his previous comments were.
On Monday, Downing Street defended the activist’s entry into the UK, saying that the government would welcome the return of any citizen who had been “unfairly detained abroad”.
The prime minister’s official spokesperson 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.”
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 in Iraq, 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 spokesperson described it as “fairly fulsome”.
But 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 spokesperson 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.
I have written to @ShabanaMahmood urging her to rescind the citizenship of Alaa Abd el-Fattah and deport him from the country. pic.twitter.com/MTrX7j0dNa
— Nigel Farage MP (@Nigel_Farage) December 28, 2025
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.
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