Nigel Farage has written to the Home Secretary, Shabana Mahmood, urging her to revoke the British citizenship of Egyptian activist Alaa Abd el-Fattah and order his deportation from the United Kingdom.
The Reform UK leader said he was “deeply concerned” by Mr Abd el-Fattah’s return to Britain following his release from detention in Egypt.
Sir Keir Starmer had earlier said he was “delighted” to welcome Mr Abd el-Fattah to the UK after Cairo lifted a travel ban, thanking President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi for his role in securing the activist’s release.
Mr Farage described that response as “an extraordinary error of judgment”, pointing to historic social media posts allegedly written by Mr Abd el-Fattah between 2010 and 2012.
Those posts, which have circulated widely online since his arrival, include comments calling for the killing of Zionists, referring to British people as “dogs and monkeys”, and suggesting that police should be killed.
Mr Abd el-Fattah has also been accused of expressing support for suicide bombings.
“These abhorrent posts show Mr el-Fattah to hold views which are completely opposed to our British way of life,” Mr Farage wrote.
He added that claims Downing Street had been unaware of the comments only “compound the Prime Minister’s ineptitude”.
Nigel Farage has written to the Home Secretary
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PA
The Reform UK leader also criticised the breadth of political support that had previously been mobilised on Mr Abd el-Fattah’s behalf.
His letter notes that 35 Labour MPs and peers wrote to the then foreign secretary, David Lammy, calling for his release, alongside six Conservative MPs, 34 Liberal Democrat parliamentarians, seven SNP MPs and all four Green Party MPs.
“Indeed, it was the Conservatives who granted citizenship to Mr el-Fattah in 2021 while he was still imprisoned,” Mr Farage wrote.
“That none of those parties carried out basic due diligence on this unpleasant individual is, frankly, astonishing.”
Nigel Farage wants el-Fattah’s deportation | PA
Mr Abd el-Fattah became a British citizen through his mother, who was born in the UK, under a legal route that grants automatic citizenship by descent.
At the time, applicants using this route were no longer subject to the usual “good character” test, following a Supreme Court ruling that the requirement breached the European Convention on Human Rights. As a result, Home Office officials did not assess his past statements or conduct.
Mr Farage argued that the Home Secretary has the power to act now. “It should go without saying that anyone who possesses racist and anti-British views such as those of Mr el-Fattah should not be allowed into the UK,” he wrote.
“As Home Secretary, it is within your power to revoke his citizenship and order his deportation. I strongly urge you to do so.”
The controversy has reignited calls from Conservative figures to leave the ECHR, which Labour opposes.
Jewish groups have also demanded that Mr Abd el-Fattah’s citizenship be reviewed. No 10 has said the Prime Minister was unaware of the social media posts when he welcomed Mr Abd el-Fattah to Britain, where he is due to be reunited with his teenage son.
The Home Office has not yet indicated whether it will consider revoking his citizenship, but Mr Farage has confirmed he has referred the matter to counter-terrorism police, ensuring the issue is unlikely to fade quickly from the political agenda.