Eamonn Holmes shares blunt view on British-Egyptian activist Alaa Abdel Fattah: 'Toss him out!'

Mr Fattah returned to the UK in late 2025 following a presidential pardon in Egypt, but his arrival was quickly overshadowed by controversy after historic social media posts resurfaced.

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has led calls for his deportation, branding the comments, which included references to violence against Zionists, police officers and white people, as “disgusting and abhorrent”.

Writing in the Daily Mail on December 29, she argued that “people who hate Britain should not be welcomed” and urged the Home Secretary to examine whether Abdel Fattah’s British citizenship, granted in 2021 through his UK-born mother, could be revoked.

The British-Egyptian activist has since issued an “unequivocal” apology, describing the posts as expressions of youthful anger while claiming some were misunderstood or taken out of context.

The row has intensified political pressure on Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, who initially welcomed Mr Abdel Fattah’s return as a human rights priority, with opposition figures and Jewish community groups now demanding a review of his status in the UK.

Opening the discussion, Mr Holmes said: “So, the Conservative leader, she’s furious about this.”

Ms Neesom agreed, arguing the public reaction mirrored political anger. “Yeah, and rightly so,” she said. “I think she’s echoing what a lot of people in the country are saying. They are furious about this.”

She went on to condemn the content of Mr Abdel Fattah’s past remarks, saying: “Because of some of the comments he’s made, he clearly hates his country, he hates white people, he hates Jewish people, he hates the police, he hates the government.”

She also questioned claims that politicians were unaware of the activist’s online history, pointing to past scrutiny.

“In 2014 he had been nominated for a free speech prize, and that nomination was removed when people bothered to look at his tweets and found out the sort of things he was tweeting about,” she said.

Mr Holmes then invited Mr Akabusi to give his view, asking: “Chris, what do you think about the sort of things he was tweeting about?”

The athlete responded by acknowledging the age of the posts, while stressing they remained unacceptable.

“The tweets were in 2008, 2010 — they go up to about 2014,” he said, adding: “It doesn’t matter, obviously. It doesn’t make it right.”

Mr Holmes agreed, interjecting: “Well, without a shadow of a doubt, it doesn’t make it right.”

Mr Akabusi went on to argue that the controversy should focus on citizenship law rather than political outrage. “His mother is British, so the reason he’s in the country is because his mother’s British, not because of his tweeting,” he said.

He added: “I can’t understand why the leader of the opposition is apoplectic with rage, but we have to look at our laws that allow somebody whose mum is British to have British citizenship.”

Despite this, he stressed he was not defending Mr Abdel Fattah’s comments. “No one’s going to defend, I’m certainly not going to defend the things that he said,” he said.

The guest also drew comparisons with other cases, claiming: “We jail people like Lucy Connolly for the tweet that she made, and yet our politicians are welcoming this person back with open arms, considering the stuff he said.”

As the discussion continued, Mr Holmes attempted to interject before Mr Akabusi delivered a blistering assessment of the political fallout. “I just — not feel for Mr Starmer,” he said, before adding: “You just recognise that he is a clown with your Jane, isn’t he?”

'Whether he's British or not, toss him out!' Mr Holmes concluded.

Fans of the presenter were quick to back his stance on social media.

“Surely some of those people who are or have been imprisoned for offensive posts should be released, and people like Lucy Connolly should sue the establishment,” one user wrote.

Another said: “The anti-white hatred too. We have to break the mental barrier that you’re an evil white supremacist if you dare speak out in defence of yourself. It has to stop. Recover your pride.”

A third commenter added: “He should be stripped of his citizenship and removed. If that can’t be done, he should be held in prison until it can. He cannot make that sheer amount of threats towards people and groups of people and expect a life of freedom."

However, not all responses were in agreement with the GB News star. One user cautioned: “It’s a good point. There is a constitution to think about, which is more important than populism. I think this guy should face prison...but you can’t just toss out a British-born citizen. It sets a horrendous precedent as a test case.”