Prime Minister Keir Starmer was unaware of the “abhorrent” views expressed by an alleged British Egyptian extremist before he welcomed him home.
It is understood that the Prime Minister was alerted to “extreme” social media posts by Alaa Abd el-Fattah only after they began circulating online. He is understood to consider the content of the posts “abhorrent”.
Sources said Yvette Cooper, the Foreign Secretary, and David Lammy, the Deputy Prime Minister – who also welcomed el-Fattah’s arrival – were equally unaware of the posts.
El-Fattah, who labelled British people “dogs and monkeys” and called for Zionists to be killed, arrived from Egypt on Saturday NZT after a travel ban imposed by Cairo was lifted following lobbying by ministers.
After the old social posts emerged, the Conservatives called for him to be stripped of his citizenship and deported to Egypt.
The Telegraph can now reveal the extent to which Jonathan Powell, the national security adviser, was involved in efforts to secure the arrival of el-Fattah.
El-Fattah was jailed in Egypt in 2019 and banned from leaving the country after his release in September.
The Conservatives also backed his release while in office, although Sir Iain Duncan Smith, the former Tory leader, said today that regretted his support and called on the police to investigate el-Fattah’s comments.
Robert Jenrick, the shadow justice secretary, demanded that Starmer clarify whether he supported el-Fattah’s views or “was just ignorant”.
Historic social media posts allegedly written by el-Fattah between 2010 and 2012 circulated online after his arrival, including one in which he described British people as “dogs and monkeys” and another that said it was heroic to kill Zionists “including civilians”.
In other messages from his X account, he urged Londoners to burn Downing Street, told his supporters to kill police and said he hated white people.
El-Fattah, who was granted British citizenship in 2021 through his mother, also posted a message on Christmas Day 2010 in which he described himself as “far from British”.
The Board of Deputies of British Jews raised “profound concern” about the comments, saying they represented a threat to Jews and the wider public.
Senior Tories including Rishi Sunak, Boris Johnson and Liz Truss all previously supported diplomatic efforts to get el-Fattah released from jail.
James Cleverly, the former Foreign Secretary who now serves in Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch’s shadow cabinet, led the representations to the Egyptians.
El-Fattah was jailed for “spreading fake news” after sharing a Facebook post about torture in Egypt. Campaigners described him as a “prisoner of conscience”, and his cause was championed by celebrities and actors as well as politicians.
Parliamentary records show that Powell, considered one of the most powerful figures in No 10, played a central role in el-Fattah’s case.
He raised the case directly with Badr Abdelatty, Egypt’s Foreign Minister, during a conversation at the end of April, according to submissions by ministers.
The national security adviser, a former chief of staff to Sir Tony Blair, has already prompted controversy over his links to China and his involvement in the deal to surrender the Chagos Islands to Mauritius.
His involvement is likely to provoke further scrutiny of the power he wields at the heart of the Government.
Lammy, then the foreign secretary, also told the Commons in June that the case had been “a top priority every week that I have been in office”.
“At every single level – Prime Minister, Foreign Secretary, minister, national security adviser – we are engaged with the Egyptians,” he said.
El-Fattah was freed in September following a presidential pardon but was blocked from travelling to the UK because Egypt refused to recognise his dual nationality.
Ministers lobbied Cairo to lift the travel ban so that he could fly to the UK, where he will be reunited with his 14-year-old son, who lives in Brighton.
A backlash against the decision to bring el-Fattah to Britain intensified today, with Duncan Smith becoming the first MP to express regret for having previously supported his case.
He was one of around 100 MPs who signed a 2023 letter to the Foreign Office urging the then Conservative government to do more to secure his release.
Duncan Smith said: “I do… regret signing the letter calling for the release of Alaa Abd el-Fattah, given his views, that have since come to light, are utterly abhorrent. Had I known of these, I would not have signed the letter. I urge the police to investigate the nature of these extremist comments.”
The Board of Deputies described el-Fattah’s historic comments as “extremist and violent” and said they were “threatening to British Jews and the wider public”.
Adrian Cohen, the group’s senior vice-president, said: “The cross-party campaign for such a person, and the warm welcome issued by the Government, demonstrate a broken system with an astonishing lack of due diligence by the authorities. We have raised the issue with the Government, and have left them in no doubt as to our concern.
“There is an urgent need to know if he still holds these views and if so what measures the Government intends to take to keep the Jewish community and the wider public safe, and to ensure that proper due diligence is being taken on such cases going forward.”
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