Downing Street faced a furious backlash last night after saying a controversial Egyptian dissident was 'welcome' in Britain.

No 10 defended Keir Starmer's handling of the case of Alaa Abd El-Fattah, amid calls for him to be stripped of his British citizenship over vile outbursts about Jews, the police and white people.

El-Fattah issued a partial apology for his online rants, which are being assessed by the Metropolitan Police. But he also 'liked' a post on Facebook claiming that he is the victim of a 'campaign launched by the Zionists'.

Yvette Cooper last night ordered an urgent inquiry into 'serious information failures' that left ministers blindsided by El-Fattah's 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'.

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.

Alaa Abd el-Fattah stands next to his mother, Laila Soueif, and sister, Sanaa, at home in Giza, Egypt

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'

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'.