is under fire after welcoming home a recently freed Egyptian prisoner who reportedly shared violent and antisemitic content on social media in the past.
Successive British governments have advocated for the release of Alaa Abd el-Fattah, a dual British-Egyptian national who has been imprisoned in Egypt for much of the past 14 years.
He was freed from prison in September after a pardon by the Egyptian president but stayed in the country under a travel ban that was only recently lifted, enabling his return to the U.K. on Friday.
Starmer marked Abd el-Fattah’s return by stating he was “delighted” that the activist had been reunited with his family in the UK.
Meanwhile, a senior figure in the opposition Conservative Party criticized Starmer for providing a “personal, public endorsement” of Abd el-Fattah.
Robert Jenrick, the Shadow Secretary of State for Justice and Shadow Lord Chancellor, sought clarification on whether Starmer was aware of past social media posts where Abd el-Fattah allegedly endorsed and police. Jenrick also called on Starmer to denounce Abd el-Fattah’s comments and retract his “unalloyed endorsement” of the activist.
“No one should be imprisoned arbitrarily or for peaceful dissent,” Jenrick wrote. “Yet the prime minister should not lend the authority of his office to someone whose words veer into the language of racism and violence.”
Jenrick, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch, and Reform UK leader Nigel Farage have urged that Abd el-Fattah’s British citizenship be revoked and that he be deported.
The UK government later clarified that the prime minister was unaware of the “abhorrent” social media posts when he made the welcoming statement.
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office stated in a release that advocating for Abd el-Fattah’s release has been a “long-standing priority” for governments of both major parties, adding that this does not equate to endorsing his social media content.
“The government condemns Mr. El-Fattah’s past tweets and deems them abhorrent,” the statement noted.
Abd el-Fattah issued an “unequivocal apology” on Sunday, characterizing his past remarks as the “outbursts of a young man’s anger” amid regional crises and police brutality in Egypt.
Abd el-Fattah’s family in the UK has argued that he spent much of the past 14 years in prison due to his opposition to Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi’s government.
His mother, 69-year-old Laila Soueif, undertook a 10-month hunger strike to push British authorities to take further action to secure her son’s release.
Shortly after Abd el-Fattah arrived at London’s Heathrow Airport, critics began sharing his past social media posts. Abd el-Fattah has previously maintained that the comments were taken out of context and were part of a “private conversation” during an Israeli offensive in the , as per The Times of London.