Alaa Abdel Fattah: Mother on hunger strike for jailed son

Although he acquired British citizenship in 2021, Egypt has never allowed him a consular visit.

In opposition two years ago, the UK’s then shadow foreign secretary, David Lammy, called for “serious diplomatic consequences” if access wasn’t granted immediately and Alaa Abdel Fattah was not freed.

But his family are deeply disappointed with how the current government, and the previous one, have handled his case. They believe the UK has more leverage with Egypt – a key ally – than it’s prepared to use.

“I’m not a fool. I don’t expect the government to ruin billions of dollars’ worth of trade deals for my son,” says Laila Souief, who lives in Cairo but was born in London.

She does, however, expect Mr Lammy, now that he is foreign secretary, to put pressure on Egyptian ministers to take action, she says.

“At least don’t give them photo opportunities like the one I saw recently of David Lammy grinning ear to ear with the Egyptian foreign secretary.”

A spokesperson for the Foreign Office said: “Our priority remains securing consular access to Mr El-Fattah and his release. We continue to raise his case at the highest levels of the Egyptian government.”

The family’s campaign has been supported by Richard Ratcliffe, who knows only too well what drives someone to go on hunger strike – as he himself did for his wife, Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe.