Alaa Abd El-Fattah, a controversial Egyptian figure recently released from prison, has stirred debate upon his return to the UK. Despite apologizing for past anti-Semitic and anti-British remarks on social media, El-Fattah has also endorsed claims of being targeted by a ‘Zionist’ conspiracy.

El-Fattah, 44, arrived back in the UK on Boxing Day after being freed from Egypt’s Wadi el-Natrun Prison. His release followed a United Nations investigation, which determined that his imprisonment for allegedly spreading false information violated international law.

The situation has placed Prime Minister Keir Starmer in the spotlight, facing backlash for expressing his pleasure at El-Fattah’s return and stating that he is ‘welcome’ in Britain. This comes after aggressive tweets from El-Fattah’s past, posted during his 30s, resurfaced and drew public scrutiny.

In response to the growing criticism, El-Fattah issued a partial apology, acknowledging the offensive nature of his previous comments. He also suggested that some statements had been misrepresented or taken out of context.

Despite this apology, El-Fattah recently supported a narrative proposed by Egyptian lawyer and activist Khaled Ali, which claims that El-Fattah is the target of a ‘Zionist’ campaign.

No. 10 has defended Prime Minister Starmer’s approach to El-Fattah’s case, amid calls for the dissident to be stripped of his British citizenship due to his inflammatory remarks against Jews, law enforcement, and white individuals.

Yvette Cooper last night ordered an urgent inquiry into ‘serious information failures’ that left ministers blindsided by El-Fattah’s resurfaced extremist comments, despite them being a matter of public controversy for years.

The Foreign Secretary said checks on his background had been ‘completely inadequate’.

Sir Keir last night acknowledged that social media posts in which El-Fattah called for the murder of Jews and police officers – and voiced his hatred of white people – were ‘abhorrent’.

El-Fattah, 44, issued a qualified apology early yesterday as the backlash grew, but suggested that some of his rants had been ‘twisted’ out of context

The day before releasing his lengthy apology, El-Fattah was found to have backed a claim that he was a victim of a ‘campaign launched by the Zionists’ posted by Egyptian lawyer and activist Khaled Ali

Downing Street insisted the PM was not aware of them when he voiced his ‘delight’ at El-Fattah’s arrival in the UK last week.

But he did not delete his tweet welcoming him to the UK. And asked if he remained ‘delighted’ now that he had seen details of El-Fattah’s comments, the Prime Minister’s spokesman said: ‘We welcome the return of a British citizen unfairly detained abroad, as we would in all cases.’

The Conservatives branded El-Fattah a ‘scumbag’ who should be deported. Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick said: ‘It beggars belief that Starmer still ‘welcomes’ this anti-British, anti-white, anti-Semitic extremist to our country. It’s clear he won’t revoke his citizenship, won’t deport him and doesn’t regret bringing him here.’

Fellow Tory MP Jack Rankin said: ‘Of course El-Fattah is not welcome here. He’s not British, he was automatically granted citizenship by the Whitehall machine because of the courts applying European human rights laws, and the Home Secretary should use her powers to remove him immediately.’

Reform UK pledged a change in the law to make it easier to deport dual nationals ‘who have expressed vile and anti-British views’.

Leader Nigel Farage said: ‘Both Tory and Labour governments have opened our doors to evil people.

‘Reform will change the law and make our country safe again. Will Starmer do the same?’

El-Fattah landed in the UK on Boxing Day after spending almost ten years in and out of Egyptian jails on multiple different charges.

Minutes after the PM welcomed him back to Britain, critics unearthed a string of vile tweets.

In a series of messages dating back to 2010, he called for ‘the killing of all Zionists, including civilians’. He described the British as ‘dogs and monkeys’, and spoke of his hatred for white people, boasting he was ‘proud of being racist against whites’.

In a post in August 2011, when London was in the grip of riots, El-Fattah wrote: ‘Go burn the city or Downing Street or hunt police, you fools.’ He said the police were ‘not human’, adding: ‘We should just kill them all.’

Sir Keir last night acknowledged that social media posts in which El-Fattah called for the murder of Jews and police officers and voiced his hatred of white people were ‘abhorrent’

El-Fattah (pictured) one of the 25 detained activists of January 25 Revolution in Egypt, is seen during the Shura Council trials at the Cairo Police Academy in Cairo, Egypt, on November 2014

The Prime Minister’s spokesperson described El-Fattah’s apology as ‘fairly fulsome’, adding: ‘That’s clearly the right thing to do.’ 

But Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said the statement was an ‘insincere apology’.

He added: ‘What he said was absolutely disgusting. In my view, this man is a scumbag.

‘If I was the Home Secretary, I would today be signing an order to revoke his citizenship. People who spew this kind of hatred have no place in this country, and the fact he’s issued an apology now that he’s been essentially exposed makes no difference whatsoever.’

Ms Cooper last night ordered an investigation into how the Foreign Office failed to uncover El-Fattah’s background. It is all the more startling given that his tweets led to his nomination for an international human rights prize being rescinded in 2014.

The Foreign Secretary acknowledged that tweets from her and other senior ministers celebrating El-Fattah’s arrival in the UK had ‘added to the distress felt by Jewish communities in the UK and I very much regret that’.

Mr Farage has referred El-Fattah’s comments to counter-terrorism police. The Met Police said the posts were ‘being assessed to determine whether any further police investigation may be required’.