British citizenship should never be conditional | Letters

Debates over Alaa Abd el-Fattah and others such as Shamima Begum feed hard-right myths about Britishness, writes Nick Moss. Plus, letters by Sally March and Dr Richard Carter

Good as it is to know that the Home Office does not intend to take any action to remove Alaa Abd el-Fattah’s citizenship over “abhorrent” past social media posts, the fact that, in limited circumstances, it is an option ought to cause us real concern (Alaa Abd el-Fattah ‘will not be stripped of British citizenship’ over past tweets, 30 December).

The recent Institute for Public Policy Research report that 36% of people now think you must be born British to be truly British (Report, 29 December) cannot be separated from the conduct of debates like those around Abd el-Fattah. If, for those who are not white and born in the UK, citizenship is a gift of the state that can be withdrawn, then it’s not citizenship at all but a form of limited leave like any other.

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