Keir Starmer last night faced a storm of criticism for celebrating the arrival in the UK of an Egyptian activist who advocated the killing of ‘Zionists’ and the British police.

Tory and Reform UK politicians united to condemn the Prime Minister for welcoming Alaa Abd El-Fattah’s return to Britain, after serving more than a decade in Egyptian jails.

The Prime Minister said: ‘I’m delighted that Alaa Abd El-Fattah is back in the UK and has been reunited with his loved ones, who must be feeling profound relief.’

His arrival was also welcomed by Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy and Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper.

Robert Jenrick, the Tories’ justice spokesman, condemned Sir Keir’s remarks.

Writing in today’s Mail on Sunday, Mr Jenrick said: ‘At a time when anti-Semitic incidents are surging, when Jewish communities feel under threat and when policing is under intense pressure, the signal this sends is grotesque.’

He added: ‘The Prime Minister is no longer a private campaigner or a gun for hire. His words carry weight and represent us all.’

Reform leader Nigel Farage said: ‘This Government just gets worse. No mention of these violent tweets on the BBC News story either.’

Alaa Abd El-Fattah with his mother Laila after arriving back in the UK

Al-Fattah, with his sister Sanaa Seif on the right, was released in September but has only just returned to the UK

Sir Keir Starmer faces backlash after expressing 'delight' at return to UK of Egyptian activist Al-Fattah who said 'kill Zionists'

Mr El-Fattah, 44, wrote most the tweets between 2010 and 2011, some of which appear to have been deleted. In one, he said: ‘I consider killing any colonialists and especially Zionists heroic, we need to kill more of them.’

In another, he wrote: ‘There was no genocide against Jews by the Nazis – after all, many Jews are left.’ 

Shortly after that, he tweeted: ‘Dear Zionists, please don’t ever talk to me, I’m a violent person who advocated the killing of all Zionists including civilians, so f*** off.’

He also said: ‘Police are not human, they don’t have rights, we should just kill them all.’

On August 8, 2011, as London was in the grip of riots, Mr El-Fattah wrote: ‘Go burn the city or Downing Street or hunt police you fools.’

He also said: ‘So the British dogs and monkeys really think terrorists will reveal their plans on Twitter?’

Mr El-Fattah, who was born and raised in Egypt, was granted British citizenship in 2022 as his mother Laila Soueif was born in the UK.