Minister stops short of ruling out jihadi bride Shamima Begum returning to Britain
A HOME Office Minister has stopped short of ruling out jihadi bride Shamima Begum returning to Britain.
Dame Angela Eagle refused to rule out her ever coming back from Syria following the end of tyrant President Bashar al-Assad’s regime.
Ex-Home Secretary Sajid Javid cancelled her British citizenship after she was found in a refugee camp in the country, with the decision supported by the courts.
Begum, now 25, left Britain when she was a schoolgirl from east London and joined terror group Isis aged just 15.
Her future remains uncertain after Islamist-led rebels took overthrew the Assad dynasty.
Eagle said: “Her British citizenship has been stripped from her and that decision made by a previous government has been approved of at the highest levels in the courts, and that’s the current situation
The Minister added: “I’m not going to talk about her particular case.
“Every case would have to be looked on at … on its merits. And we would also have to have risk assessment about any such cases.”
But her intervention was seized upon by the Tories who called on the government to declare the decision to let her back to Britain won’t be reversed.
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said: “The failure of Labour’s Border Security Minister to rule out letting Shamima Begum back into this country speaks volumes.
“Conservatives in Government stripped Begum of citizenship and made sure she could not come back here.
“The courts upheld this. Those who supported the murderous Daesh regime have no place in the UK.
“It is weak and supine for the Labour Minister to fail to back this approach.
“With Keir Starmer appointing Begum’s counsel as this country top lawyer,
Downing Street has previously said there are “no plans” to allow her back into the UK.