A disturbing demonstration of the state’s warped priorities

Alaa Abd el-Fattah’s abhorrent views were well known long before he was welcomed into Britain Daily Telegraph 30/12/25 Telegraph View For the first time, visa restrictions have been imposed by Britain on countries refusing to take back criminals and illegal migrants. Shabana Mahmood, the Home Secretary, has deployed powers – introduced under the Conservatives in 2022 but not used until now – against the Democratic Republic of Congo. Its diplomats and ministers will no longer receive special treatment and its citizens will be barred from fast-track entry to the UK. The DRC accounts for a tiny number among the cohort of illegal arrivals, with just 134 people awaiting a decision.

Nonetheless, there will be a general welcome to this bipartisan approach since it purportedly demonstrates a determination to crack down on foreign nationals coming to our shores and abusing the country’s laws and hospitality. Two other African countries changed their position and agreed to accept deportees from Britain after being threatened with similar measures. Against a background of tougher action, then, what are we to make of the effusive welcome given to Alaa Abd el-Fattah who was released from an Egyptian prison in September and has now arrived in Britain? His incarceration became something of a cause célèbre in the world of human rights. He was a key figure in the Egyptian uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak and has subsequently been jailed by the current regime. He was granted British citizenship through his London-born mother in 2021 and successive governments have lobbied Cairo for his release. Sir Keir Starmer, a former human rights lawyer, said he had made securing his freedom a “priority” of his Government and expressed his delight that he was now in Britain. It has now emerged that Mr el-Fattah once labelled British people “dogs and monkeys” and called for Zionists to be killed, along with other incendiary and potentially racist comments Suddenly, Downing Street is less enthusiastic about the new arrival, with sources claiming the Prime Minister was unaware of the “abhorrent” comments he made until recently. Really? These were hardly secret. Mr el-Fattah had been shortlisted for a human rights prize more than 10 years ago but the nomination was withdrawn because of apparent threats made to Jews on his social media platforms. Since, by Sir Keir’s own account, the Government made a priority of this case he must surely have been aware of all the details. The Foreign Office or MI6 would presumably have compiled a dossier about an individual the state was investing so much time and effort into getting released. Did he not read his briefs? Arguably, from the moment he was granted British citizenship it was incumbent on the Government to seek his freedom if his conviction and imprisonment were deemed unsound. His London-born mother staged a high-profile hunger strike and won the support of celebrities like Dame Judi Dench and Olivia Colman. There will be relatives of others also detained abroad, such as Lindsay and Craig Foreman, jailed in Iran for a year, wondering if as much effort is being expended on their behalf. It also raises a question mark over why the last Conservative government granted him citizenship in the first place. Robert Jenrick, the shadow justice secretary, forcefully denounces the welcome given to Mr el-Fattah in The Telegraph. “El Fattah should not have been a British citizen at all,” he writes. “It shames me that the last government agreed to grant him a passport, the logic of which is hard to comprehend.” Indeed it is; but the fact remains that he was given citizenship even though his anti-Western views were well known. It is now alleged that human rights laws made it impossible to reject an application for citizenship as his social media tweets could not be taken into consideration. This is pure casuistry. The 1981 British Nationality Act is clear: the Home Secretary can deny citizenship to someone whose presence is not deemed conducive to the public good. He could appeal but hiding behind the ECHR is not a good look. Moreover, Mr el-Fattah’s British citizenship can be taken away, as has happened with Shamima Begum, who was actually born in this country. The incoherence and double standards on show are breathtaking. Is the Government seeking to protect the country from extremists or not? Ms Mahmoud’s announcement is intended to give the impression that it is, but the reality is something else entirely.