Abd el-Fattah citizenship row shows shift on questions of national identity

"What does it mean to be British? That question is increasingly at the heart of our national political debate. And it has become a more urgent one this week as the Conservatives and Reform UK call for the British-Egyptian activist Alaa Abd el-Fattah to be stripped of his UK citizenship over racist and offensive tweets he published 10 to 15 years ago. Abd el-Fattah's social media activity was thrust into the spotlight after he was finally allowed to arrive in the UK"

"The tweets unearthed were vile: they included calls to kill all Zionists and to burn down Downing Street during the 2011 riots. Abd el-Fattah has apologised for those remarks. The row is awkward for Labour and the Conservatives given that successive British governments have campaigned for his release, which became a consular issue in 2021 when he was granted UK citizenship."

"It is difficult to imagine, however, politicians such as Nigel Farage or Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, calling for Abd el-Fattah to lose his British passport were he not a dual national from a minority ethnic background. Downing Street stood firm on Monday on the grounds that he had a right to consular support like any other British citizen."

Debate over British identity has intensified amid calls to strip British-Egyptian activist Alaa Abd el-Fattah of UK citizenship over racist and offensive tweets published 10 to 15 years ago. Abd el-Fattah arrived in the UK last week after a decade as a political prisoner in Egypt. The unearthed tweets included calls to kill all Zionists and to burn down Downing Street during the 2011 riots; he has apologised. The campaign for his release by successive British governments and his 2021 citizenship make the row politically awkward. Downing Street defended his right to consular support. Many unfairly detained Britons hold dual nationality or foreign heritage, such as Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Jimmy Lai, illustrating multiple routes to British citizenship including naturalisation and historical Hong Kong links.

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