Alaa Abd el-Fattah

Lord McInnes of Kilwinning Excerpts

Wednesday 4th June 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Collins of Highbury (Lab)]

I do not know what the noble Baroness would suggest. This is a judgment call. It is my absolute, sincere hope—shared by the Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary—that we can support Alaa’s mother, Laila, and ensure that she is safe. We are going to do that at the highest possible levels, by working with the Egyptian authorities and conveying our strong message to seek his urgent release. It is a judgment call and, at this stage, I think that we are making the right judgment.

[Lord McInnes of Kilwinning (Con)]

My Lords, I do not want in any way to underestimate the importance of the bilateral efforts that the Government are making and that the Prime Minister has personally made, but, surely, given the strategic importance of Egypt to the United States and the significant aid from the United States that supports Egypt and its military, the Prime Minister’s strong relationship with President Trump should be leveraged to try to get justice in this case.

[Lord Collins of Highbury (Lab)]

The noble Lord is right that we should use all possible avenues to amplify our bilateral call, and we are certainly working with allies to do that. At this stage of the game, it is really important that we focus on our specific call.