Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has told the BBC he regrets welcoming British-Egyptian activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK, following the emergence of old social media posts which included calls to kill Zionists.Speaking to the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme, Sir Keir again called the posts “abhorrent” and said he “should have been made aware and I wasn’t”.The Conservatives, Reform UK, and some senior Labour MPs have called for Mr Abd El Fattah to be stripped of his British citizenship as a result of the posts.The prime minister has launched a review into what he called a “failing in the system”.The UK has long lobbied for Mr Abd El Fattah to come to the UK under both Conservative and Labour governments, but politicians at the top of successive administrations appear to have been left in the dark about his social media history. On Boxing Day, Sir Keir said he was “delighted” the activist had arrived in the UK and had been “reunited with his loved ones” following his release from an Egyptian jail.Speaking to the programme, Sir Keir said “of course I regret that”, stressing that Mr Abd El Fattah’s posts had been “abhorrent”.He said: “As I’ve made clear, I didn’t know about those comments at the time of welcoming El Fattah to this country.”Pressed by Ms Kuenssberg on why nobody in government appeared to have “bothered to check” Mr Abd El Fattah’s background, the prime minister said he h …
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[mwai_chat context=”Let’s have a discussion about this article:nnPrime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has told the BBC he regrets welcoming British-Egyptian activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK, following the emergence of old social media posts which included calls to kill Zionists.Speaking to the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme, Sir Keir again called the posts “abhorrent” and said he “should have been made aware and I wasn’t”.The Conservatives, Reform UK, and some senior Labour MPs have called for Mr Abd El Fattah to be stripped of his British citizenship as a result of the posts.The prime minister has launched a review into what he called a “failing in the system”.The UK has long lobbied for Mr Abd El Fattah to come to the UK under both Conservative and Labour governments, but politicians at the top of successive administrations appear to have been left in the dark about his social media history. On Boxing Day, Sir Keir said he was “delighted” the activist had arrived in the UK and had been “reunited with his loved ones” following his release from an Egyptian jail.Speaking to the programme, Sir Keir said “of course I regret that”, stressing that Mr Abd El Fattah’s posts had been “abhorrent”.He said: “As I’ve made clear, I didn’t know about those comments at the time of welcoming El Fattah to this country.”Pressed by Ms Kuenssberg on why nobody in government appeared to have “bothered to check” Mr Abd El Fattah’s background, the prime minister said he h …nnDiscussion:nn” ai_name=”RocketNews AI: ” start_sentence=”Can I tell you more about this article?” text_input_placeholder=”Type ‘Yes'”]
