US EditionForeign secretary orders review of 'serious failures' in case of British-Egyptian activist
An urgent review is underway after ministers were unaware of decade-old tweets by activist Alaa Abd El Fattah, with calls to revoke his citizenship and an apology issued.
- On December 29, 2025, Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper ordered an urgent Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office review into serious information failures after she, Keir Starmer, and Angela Rayner were unaware of tweets by Alaa Abd El Fattah.
- After Egypt lifted his travel ban and he arrived earlier this week, decade-old tweets attributed to Alaa Abd El Fattah resurfaced alongside Boxing Day posts welcoming his return in Britain.
- Conservative and Reform UK figures pressed for Alaa Abd El Fattah's British citizenship to be stripped, although he was granted it in December 2021 under Boris Johnson, former Prime Minister.
- Downing Street defended the government's handling and said it welcomed the return of a British citizen unfairly detained abroad, while Chris Philp, Shadow Home Secretary, said `There is no excuse for what he wrote`.
- Cooper has ordered a systems review, calling due diligence 'completely inadequate' and stating consular support 'must never be interpreted as support for an individual's personal views,' Cooper stated.
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17 Articles
U.K. to review 'failures' over support of activist who reportedly called to kill Zionists
Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper wrote that neither she nor her predecessors were briefed on the social media history of activist Alaa Abd el-Fattah, who was welcomed to the U.K. by ministers after his release from Egyptian prison
UK to probe British-Egyptian activist case ‘failures’ after social media posts cause furor
PM Keir Starmer was “unaware” of historic social media posts by Alaa Abd El-Fattah — in which he said killing Zionists was “heroic” — when he welcomed him to the U.K. last week.
Counter terror police assessing Egyptian activist's tweets after admitting he 'hated white people'
Counter Terrorism Police are assessing Egyptian extremist Alaa Abd El-Fattah's tweets, after he described the killing of Zionists as heroic and British people as "dogs and monkeys" on social media
Probe ordered after freed activist Alaa Abd El-Fattah's 'abhorrent' tweets come to light - The Mirror
Yvette Cooper has ordered a Foreign Office review after 'abhorrent' social media posts by British-Egyptian national Alaa Abd El-Fattah were missed as the Government lobbied for his release
UK orders ’urgent review’ over Alaa Abdel Fattah’s posts
UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper on Monday ordered an urgent review into what she said were "serious information failures" in the case of recently-released British-Egyptian activist Alaa Abdel Fattah. Alaa Abdel Fattah earlier on Monday apologised over the resurfaced posts in which he called for "violence against Zionists and police," as opposition lawmakers urged the UK government to revoke his citizenship. The posts, dating back to 2010, cam…
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