To think that Kier Starmer shouldn't be welcoming extremists into Britain?

The man would still be in Egypt without Starmer’s actions and making it a top priority.

Then tweeting about being delighted. He did it to himself.

@Blossomtoes
But this man was not in UK so need not have been admitted. He could have sat in Egypt with his dual Nationality and enjoyed the warmth. It was not an administrative process like recognising nationality. There was a deliberate move by Labour and Keir personally to regard this hateful man as an ally, gaslight us about his guilt and bring him in.
BTW how did he travel? Did we pay his fare?

Just another Tory mess to clean up.

It's quite possible that a number of Abd El Fattahs tweets were meant to be sarcastic or flippant. I would not conclude that he intended people to take them all literally.

However, we are in a place as a society where free speech has been encroached on to such an extent that the intentions of the person stating an opinion matter less than the feelings of those who hear or read it. This is where the Public Order Act in particular has ended up.

There is a clear demonstration of that in the idea that some police forces now believe that the chanting the phrase “globalise the Intifada” is an arrestable offence, when it was previously tolerated, simply because the context has changed. The speech is the same, but the feelings it provokes are different. That is dangerous territory in my opinion because the boundaries of legality become perilously unclear.

There are clearly things that Abd El-Fattah has said on X that are every bit as bad as things that have resulted in imprisonment for others. That in itself is damning in respect of our treatment of free speech, but it becomes many times more problematic when our PM, who has roundly condemned hate speech is expressing delight at welcoming someone who indulges in it into the UK.

I think the underlying issue that this case raises is about the infantilising of minority groups by certain parts of the media and political establishment. Complex individuals like Abd El-Fattah are reducing to one dimensional caricatures - either good or bad. Messy details anround their beliefs are glossed over in favour of their totemic symobolism. They become a cause to be championed rather than a person to be understood.

The same thing happened in reverse with people like Lucy Connolly and Ricky Jones, who were imprisoned because of very similar statements that they made during the recent riots.

In the real world the good guys are not always entirely good and the bad guys are not always entirely bad. It’s never that simple and the fiasco over Abd El-Fattah is a cautionary tale for politicians and celebrities who try to make themselves look worthy by jumping on the latest bandwagon.

I'm not sure that he should be deported, but I do hope that this affair is a turning point in the battle for freedom of expression in the UK. We arrest more people for statements on social media than most totalitarian regimes. That should not be tolerated.

Exactly it has been parroted a few times hardly 'conveniently ignored'.

However Labour are now trying to run the country so it's up to Starmer to fix this.

It hasn't been ignored on this thread!

On the contrary, it could happen to any political party. It’s also happened to the Tories who gave him citizenship but that’s conveniently ignored.

Why are we so weak and pathetic in the UK (government I mean)?

Leading politician engineers maximum publicity for welcoming an extremist who has called for violence and death on people like the politicians own wife and son.
note: Starmer has said that his wife is Jewish. According to Jewish Rules Children are of the same religion as their Mother.
It could only happen to Labour.

Shamima Begum is effectively stateless. It can happen.

@EasternStandard if I were Sisi it's exactly what I'd do, why not? Get rid of extremist rabble-rouser and show up the posturing UK government as the flat-footed idiots they clearly are. Win-win.
Let's face it, if Tommy Robinson suddenly acquired dual citizenship we'd be daft not to cancel his UK passport the minute he went overseas

So what? He wasn't a cabinet minister at the time.

Feel more of a fool than our clown PM who tweeted so effusively to welcome into the country a man who hates us all? Doubtful.

If this happens we’ve lost it. Incredible.

Well its a bit weird isnt it, given the video evidence that showed he was blatantly inciting violence.
Very strange 🤔

It was your derail. Idk why you think people won’t criticism him and it’s a ‘stick to beat him with’ or whatever unless you don’t want to see any negativity.

I’d prefer you didn’t ‘some poster’ everything as it adds nothing bar a PA dig but there you go.

ES, with respect, you don't get to tell me what I can and can't post. Other posters on this thread have made the same observation as I have, yet you haven't jumped on them.

Now this is becoming a derail, so I will leave it there.

This.

Of course everyone blames Starmer, the buck stops with him. We were told this plenty of times when other PMs were in post.

He needs to try and show some leadership and get rid of this odious terrorist cheerleader.

Ok so let people post criticism without the PA ‘some poster’ stuff.

He’s the PM. His tweets are jarring against the reality of this guy, of course people will have a view on that.

Why does criticism of Starmer bother you?

It doesn't. I have been critical of Starmer on this thread and others and in the post you have quoted. To be clear, I don't think he is a good politician or Prime Minister.

I've seen reports that Egypt are looking to revoke his citizenship ASAP now that he is out of the country.
We are going to be stuck with him now, roll on the half-arsed attempts at Prevent referrals/prosecution leading to further hunger strikes and cringe actors reciting his shit poetry.
Well done everyone involved 👏

‘Some posters’ again. Why does criticism of Starmer bother you?

I couldn't care less about whether it's Starmer or Tories who are most to blame. I do care that the current PM, The most senior MP representing this country has made all those recipients of this vile man's hatred, feel totally unsafe

I agree completely. I made it clear in my subsequent post that everyone has failed here, including Starmer and that the buck stops with him. But some posters are only really concerned with using this as a stick to beat Starmer with, I'm afraid

Sorry. I'll try better next time. Although I'm pretty sure that very few people will rock up to an interesting looking thread and read all 17 pages diligently before posting.

The title seemed to imply that Starmer is wholly or mainly at fault and several posters I saw did seem to agree that it was simply more evidence how Starmer is the biggest villain in the history of the world. This doesnt mean I agree he should "welcome" people who have said and done vile things. Although we do sometimes seem to be in a polarised world where anything less than full throated hatred and disgust aimed at politicians (whether that is Starmer, Badenoch, Khan or Farage) is seem as undying devotion towards them.

maybe if Starmer hadn't tried to claim the credit that it was his government that made this happen as a top priority then the blame game would have been much easier. He certainly gave no credit for this to the Tories. Meanwhile a person with extremist views has been given a platform in the UK and endorsed by the current PM even if only 24 hours.

Fgs this isn't about Labour v Tories. It is way more important than that. I couldn't care less about whether it's Starmer or Tories who are most to blame. I do care that the current PM, The most senior MP representing this country has made all those recipients of this vile man's hatred, feel totally unsafe.