Shamima Begum - No free pardon

There really is a load of gumph around about this woman. ‘Family plea for Shamima to be allowed home’ says the Times, echoed by others of the appeaser ilk. All that’s missing so far is an appeal from the Archbishop of Canterbury.

The fact is – a fact ignored by the more hysterical ladies of the press, including the Times – that no-one in government has determined that this woman Begum should be prevented from returning to the UK. She is a British citizen, and does not have dual nationality. She is quite free to return home and face the law – the consequences of having treacherously abused her nation, having aided and comforted the nation’s enemies and having been complicit in the barbarous murder of other British citizens. 

Her family, pictured by the Times with a huge Teddy Bear in Islamic robes suitable for a four-year-old, are free to go to Syria and bring her back, or send her the money to book a flight home. The Times is probably even willing to arrange her repatriation itself, in exchange for an exclusive story.

If she turns up at the UK border, she cannot be denied entry. So this is not the issue. It’s all about whether she should escape scot-free with no reckoning for her actions. She must not. She must answer to Justice, and if she continues to pose a threat to the UK she must be subject to those restrictions available to protect the nation against dangerous Islamists. Her child – if it lives – will be taken for fostering or adoption, unless her family can establish they are suitable for the task.

Morally, many will argue she has forfeited her right to the care of the State. Well, that has to be established in law. But the one thing she doesn’t deserve is a free pardon before she’s even crossed the border.