Foreign secretary orders review of 'serious failures' in case of British-Egyptian activist Alaa Abd El-Fattah

Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper has ordered an urgent Foreign Office review of 'serious information failures' in the case of British-Egyptian activist Alaa Abd El-Fattah. Abd El-Fattah returned to the UK on Boxing Day 2025 after being imprisoned in Egypt for several years. 'Abhorrent' social media posts by Abd El-Fattah, dating back to 2010, emerged after his return. Cooper said successive prime ministers were not briefed on the historic tweets and civil servants were 'unaware' of them. Abd El-Fattah has apologized 'unequivocally' for 'shocking and hurtful' posts that called for violence against 'Zionists'. Both the Conservatives and Reform UK suggested his British citizenship should be stripped. Abd El-Fattah was a leading voice during Egypt's 2011 Arab Spring uprising and was most recently detained in September 2019, sentenced to five years in December 2021, and pardoned by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi earlier in 2025. He was granted UK citizenship in December 2021 under Boris Johnson. The review will examine due diligence procedures for high-profile consular and human rights cases.