In 2019 Alaa Abd el-Fattah was jailed in Egypt for “spreading fake news”. While in prison, in an effort to raise the profile of his case and apply diplomatic pressure to the Egyptian Government, he applied for and was granted British citizenship through his mother. After his release earlier this year, he was issued with a travel ban by the Egyptian authorities, who refused to recognise his recently acquired dual-nationality. The travel ban was subsequently lifted after pressure from both Labour ministers and civil servants, notably Jonathan Powell, Sir Keir Starmer’s National Security Advisor.
BBC journalists and celebrities like Emma Thompson view el-Fattah as a human rights activist to be lauded and fawned over, as do, I presume, Government ministers and state apparatchiks. Why else would they work so hard to welcome a man with such a flimsy link to Britain?
But he’s not a human rights activist. He’s an anti-British and anti-Semitic bigot. He’s called for Zionists to be killed, “including civilians”, urged Londoners to set fire to Downing Street, told supporters to kill police officers and explicitly declared his hatred for white people. He also referred to the British as “dogs and monkeys”.
Sir Keir of course pleads ignorance. But this seems unlikely. And even if he was ignorant of the repulsive views of a man who clearly despises Britain, that’s no defence. At best it shows a blasé indifference to national loyalty and security. As does the disgraceful decision to grant him citizenship in the first place – a decision made by the spineless Tories back in 2021. His mother was born here because his grandmother happened to be studying in England at the time. Does citizenship mean so little? Should a foreign-born individual with such a tenuous connection to Britain be granted such a status, with all the legal rights and obligations that go with it?...<<<Read More>>>...
