Alaa Abdel Fattah, a British-Egyptian activist, returned to the United Kingdom after years of detention in Egypt, following extensive diplomatic efforts by the UK government to secure his release. His return has been overshadowed by the emergence of past social media posts in which he called for violence against Zionists and police, leading to criticism from opposition Conservative Party members who are now demanding that he be stripped of his British citizenship and deported back to Egypt.

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer expressed his delight at Abdel Fattah's reunion with family in the UK shortly after the Egyptian government lifted a travel ban. However, the revelation of Abdel Fattah's historical posts, dating back to 2010, has prompted calls for Starmer to retract his supportive comments. The UK Foreign Office issued a statement affirming that Abdel Fattah is a British citizen and that his release has been a priority for successive governments, while also condemning his past tweets as "abhorrent."

Robert Jenrick, the Shadow Justice Minister from the Conservative Party, has suggested that if Starmer was unaware of Abdel Fattah's extremist views, he should retract his previous statements and initiate proceedings to revoke Abdel Fattah's citizenship.

Abdel Fattah was a prominent figure during Egypt's 2011 Arab Spring uprising and was detained in September 2019. In December 2021, he was sentenced to five years in prison for spreading false news, a ruling criticized by UN investigators as a violation of international law. His mother undertook a hunger strike to advocate for his release, while Abdel Fattah himself engaged in a hunger strike earlier this year before being pardoned by Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi.