The shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, is leading calls for David Cameron to cancel an invitation to Egypt’s president, Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, to visit Downing Street on the grounds that he is a military dictator responsible for a “regime of terror”.

McDonnell is one of 55 signatories to a letter urging the government to cancel the engagement – which could happen as early as next week – saying: “No considerations of commerce or realpolitik can justify such an invitation.”

Other signatories include Diane Abbott, the shadow international development secretary; Caroline Lucas, the Green party MP; Andrew Murray, the chief of staff at the Unite union; Michael Rosen, the author and activist; the Daily Mail journalist Peter Oborne; and Ken Loach, the filmmaker and co-founder of the Left Unity party.



UK government should withdraw its invitation to Abdel Fatah al-Sisi | Letters Read more

Cameron was criticised in July for inviting Sisi despite widespread concern about the former army chief’s authoritarianism and human rights record. The invitation was confirmed by Downing Street the day after an Egyptian court upheld a death sentence against the Muslim Brotherhood’s Mohamed Morsi, the country’s democratically elected president, who was deposed in a coup in 2013.

The letter sent to the Guardian, says: “We believe it violates the British values which the government claims to champion to welcome a ruler who has overthrown an elected government and instituted a regime of terror which has thrown back the cause of democracy in Egypt and the wider Middle East many years.

“While not necessarily supporting deposed president Morsi or the policies of his Freedom and Justice party, we note that he was democratically elected, and that his removal from office was effected by means of a military coup led by Sisi. Since then Sisi’s military-directed regime has massacred thousands of civilians.”

It cites the death sentences on hundreds of supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood including Morsi, suppression of independent political activity, violation of women’s rights, and detention of journalists and activists by security and police forces as reasons why Sisi should not be welcomed to the UK.

Human rights lawyers have suggested that during the official visit to London they could seek the arrest of members of Sisi’s regime for crimes against humanity in relation to the massacre of more than 800 protesters outside Cairo’s Rabaa al-Adawiya mosque in August 2013.

However, Cameron has adopted an approach of engagement with Sisi, particularly over the threat of Islamic State. In 2014, he also ordered a review of the UK activities of the Muslim Brotherhood, which is banned by Egypt and Saudi Arabia.

The publication of the report by Sir John Jenkins, the British ambassador to Saudi Arabia, has not been forthcoming, amid speculation that it is too favourable towards the group to merit a ban.

The letter to the Guardian protesting against Sisi’s visit has been orchestrated by the Egyptian Revolutionary Council, a coalition formed in Istanbul last year, which is made up of political opponents of the Egyptian regime, including some linked to the Muslim Brotherhood. The ERC’s head, Dr Maha Azzam, has signed the letter.

Other signatories include Anas Altikriti, who runs the Cordoba Foundation thinktank and who featured along with other prominent Muslims in a BBC documentary made by Oborne, in which they accused the bank of unfairly shutting their accounts because they were deemed terror risks.

In 2008, Cameron described the Cordoba Foundation as being a “front for the Muslim Brotherhood” in terms that the thinktank strongly rejected.

Downing Street and the Foreign Office declined to confirm a report in Middle East Eye that Sisi will land in the UK next week, in a visit that is likely to be marked by protests. But a No 10 spokeswoman defended the decision to invite Sisi to Downing Street and confirmed it would definitely take place before the end of the year.

“The prime minister has invited President Sisi to Downing Street to discuss how to work together on areas of mutual interest, including combating terrorism in Egypt and the region, and bringing stability to Libya,” she said.

“The stronger our working relationship, the more able we are to have necessary and frank discussions about issues on which we disagree. The government is committed to publishing the key findings of the Muslim Brotherhood review. We will be publishing by the end of the year.”

Labour confirmed it would seek to raise concerns about human rights with Sisi when he comes to London. It comes after the Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, secured a meeting with China’s president, Xi Jinping, to criticise his country’s record on human rights last week and Cameron was criticised for prioritising commercial ties with China during the trip.

Before he was elected leader of the party, Corbyn said: “I would not have invited [Sisi] to the UK because of my concerns over the use of the death penalty in Egypt and the treatment of people who were part of the former government of Morsi, which was elected, and the continued imprisonment of president Morsi.

“That’s not to give a judgment on the Brotherhood or any other party – it’s to give a judgment on what democracy actually means.”

More than 40 MPs, including Corbyn, signed an early day motion in July calling on Cameron to reconsider the invitation.

