UK ministers accused of ‘embarrassing failures’ in Abd el-Fattah case

Government should have appointed an envoy to carry out checks on activist in citizenship row, says Emily Thornberry

The government could have avoided embarrassing failures" in the case of Alaa Abd el-Fattah by having a special envoy deal with complex cases involving Britons detained abroad, Emily Thornberry has said.

The chair of the Commons foreign affairs committee criticised serious shortcomings" in information sharing, which she said could have been resolved by having a dedicated official carry out background checks.