The Guardian view on Egypt and Alaa Abd el-Fattah: Starmer and Lammy vowed to do all they can. So do it | Editorial

The UK still has ways to press for the release of the British-Egyptian writer and bring an end to the hunger strike endangering his mother’s lifeLast month, Sir Keir Starmer promised to do “everything I possibly can” to free Egypt’s highest profile political prisoner, Alaa Abd el-Fattah. A few months earlier, the foreign secretary had described the case of the British-Egyptian writer and campaigner as the “number one issue”. In opposition, David Lammy had joined a protest in Mr Abd el-Fattah’s support outside the Foreign Office and demanded serious diplomatic consequences for Cairo if no progress was made.Progress has not been made and time is running out. Arbitrary detention has stolen almost a decade of Mr Abd el-Fattah’s life, while that of his remarkable mother, Laila Soueif, may be drawing to its close. As of Tuesday, the 69-year-old, who lives in London, had not eaten for 261 days, as she demands her son’s release. After taking 300-calorie liquid supplements for a short period, she returned to a full hunger strike almost a month ago and has been hospitalised since the end of May. In Egypt, Mr Abd el-Fattah has been on hunger strike for more than 100 days.Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here. Continue reading...