By GB News (Politics) | Created at 2025-01-10 22:57:52 | Updated at 2025-01-11 01:52:57
3 hours ago
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch has blasted Nigel Farage after Reform UK appeared to open the door to Shamima Begum returning to the UK.
Begum, who left Bethnal Green to join the terror group Isis as a schoolgirl in 2015, was stripped of her British citizenship in 2019 over national security concerns.
She is now looking to take her case to the European Court of Human Rights after the Supreme Court blocked yet another attempt for her to return to the UK.
Farage was quizzed on his stance on Begum's potential return after Donald Trump's terror chief Seb Gorka said that Isis members in Syria should be allowed to return home.
Kemi Badenoch
PA
Speaking to ITV, the Reform UK leader said: "It's very difficult for us to think we should take back people, Shamima Begum and others, and instinctively, instinctively, it's not something I want to do.
"Gorka argues that if we and other European countries don't take back these people and put them in prison here, they will get out of prison under the new Syrian regime, leading to a problem that in the end we may all have to fight."
He added: "I think what Gorka has done is started a debate, not one that I wanted to have and not one the British Government wanted to have. But now we're going to have to. And he's got a point. Regrettably, yes."
Responding to the Reform UK leader, Badenoch said: "A Conservative Government led by me will never take back terrorists like Shamima Begum who have been stripped of their citizenship.
"Actions must have consequences or there is no deterrent. Citizenship means committing to a country and wanting its success. It’s not an international travel document for crime tourism."
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS:
Shamima Begum
GETTY
Badenoch's intervention appeared markedly different to the Leader of the Opposition's Boxing Day bust-up with Farage.
The North West Essex MP had accused the Reform UK leader of "faking" the populist party's membership ticker.
However, a group of journalists later entered Reform UK headquarters and verified the numbers reflected the populist party's membership total.
After hinting at taking legal action, Farage announced Reform UK would now ramp up efforts to topple Badenoch in her once-safe Tory seat.
Alongside Badenoch's ongoing rivalry with Farage, Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick waded in on the Begum debate.
In a three-word response, Jenrick said: "No we shouldn't."
Nigel Farage
PA
The row comes just days after Foreign Secretary David Lammy already ruled out Begum's potential return.
In an unequivocal response to Begum's repatriation, Lammy said: "Shamima Begum will not be coming back to the UK It’s gone right through the courts. She’s not a UK national."
The Foreign Secretary added: "We will act in our security interests. And many of those in those camps are dangerous, are radicals."
Reform UK Zia Yusuf was forced to address Farage's comments at the populist party's South East conference in Surrey.
Speaking to GB News, Yusuf said: "If anyone actually cares about truth, they should look at what Nigel actually said which was what's happening in Syria is there has been regime change, and let's be clear about what's happened as a result of that, you have jihadists in senior Government positions.
"If you are a British citizen and you are concerned that there are people in Syrian prisons who are security threats to the United Kingdom, where would you rather they were sitting, inside a 'prison' in a now potentially jihadist-controlled Syria or inside a maximum-security prison inside the United Kingdom?"
Despite a FindOutNow poll putting Reform UK joint-top with Labour at 25 per cent, the populist party is countering a number of attacks.
Tesla chief Elon Musk called on Farage to quit as Reform UK leader in a row revolving around ex-English Defence League member Tommy Robinson.
Tory MP Ben Obese-Jecty later took aim at South Basildon & East Thurrock MP James McMurdock over his previous assault conviction.
Speaking in the House of Commons, Obese-Jecty said: "Any debate in this House on the subject of violence against women and girls should address the convicted criminal already in our midst."
And another row appeared to erupt earlier today after a dozen Reform UK councillors gave notice of their intention to quit the populist party in protest at Farage's leadership.
Following the latest revelation, Yusuf claimed the leader of the revolt was suspended by Reform UK for nominating candidates that failed vetting and fraudulently nominating candidates with an invalid DNO certificate.
