But the human rights activist – whose return was celebrated by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer – apologised before suggesting some of his online posts were “twisted out of their meaning”.

Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp dismissed the apology, branding El-Fattah a “despicable scumbag”.

El-Fattah said: “Looking at the tweets now – the ones that were not completely twisted out of their meaning – I do understand how shocking and hurtful they are, and for that I unequivocally apologise.

“They were mostly expressions of a young man’s anger and frustrations in a time of regional crises (the wars on Iraq, on Lebanon and Gaza), and the rise of police brutality against Egyptian youth.

“I particularly regret some that were written as part of online insult battles with the total disregard for how they read to other people. I should have known better.

“I must also stress that some tweets have been completely misunderstood, seemingly in bad faith.”

He was granted British citizenship in 2021 on the basis that his mother Laila Soueif was born in the UK while her mother was studying here as a student.

But Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer is facing an intense backlash after saying he was “delighted” el-Fattah had been reunited with family members in the UK following his release from detention in Egypt.

Mr Abd el-Fattah was detained in Egypt in September 2019 and sentenced to five years in prison on charges of spreading false news in December 2021.

His imprisonment was branded a breach of international law by UN investigators, and he was released after being pardoned by Egyptian president Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi.

The Prime Minister said last Friday that he was “delighted” Mr Abd el-Fattah had arrived in the UK.

He said his release, which the previous Tory government also lobbied for, had been a “top priority”.

Sir Keir’s response came under fire from Jewish organisations, with the Board of Deputies of British Jews saying there was an “urgent need” to find out whether Mr Abd el-Fattah still held the views expressed online.

Mr el-Fattah said some of the tweets had been taken out of context.

He claimed: “For example, a tweet being shared to allege homophobia on my part was actually ridiculing homophobia. I have paid a steep price for my public support for LGBTQ rights in Egypt and the world.

“Another tweet has been wrongly interpreted to suggest Holocaust denial – but in fact the exchange shows that I was clearly mocking Holocaust denial.

“I take accusations of antisemitism very seriously. I have always believed that sectarianism and racism are the most sinister and dangerous of forces, and I did my part and paid the price for standing up for the rights of religious minorities in Egypt. I faced a military tribunal and imprisonment for defending Christians in Egypt falsely accused of violence.

“This weekend was supposed to be the first time I celebrated my son’s birthday with him since 2012, when he was one year old.

“I have been imprisoned in Egypt for almost his entire life for my consistent promotion of equality, justice and secular democracy.

“That included publicly rejecting anti-Jewish speech in Egypt, often at risk to myself, defence of LGBTQ rights, defence of Egyptian Christians, and campaigning against police torture and brutality – all at great risk.

“And, indeed, my freedom was stripped from me for these defences of human rights. These values are core to my identity.”

But Shadow home secretary Chris Philp branded Alaa Abd el-Fattah a “despicable scumbag”, adding he was “not really interested” in the democracy activist’s apology.

The Conservative MP told ITV’s Good Morning Britain: “I haven’t seen the full statement but I’ve seen parts of it, and frankly, I’m not really interested in his apology.

“What he said was absolutely disgusting. In my view, this man is a scumbag.”

Mr Philp added: “If I was the actual Home Secretary, I would today be signing an order to revoke his citizenship under the 1971 Immigration Act on the grounds he’s not conducive to the public good and making sure he gets deported, because people who spew this kind of hatred have no place in this country, and the fact he’s issued an apology now that he’s been essentially exposed I think makes no difference whatsoever.

“He’s clearly making the apology simply because his vile, hateful remarks have been publicly exposed now.”

Asked whether he thought “people can change” their ways, Mr Philp replied Mr Abd el-Fattah “could have said all this at any point in the last 10 years – but he hasn’t”.