Mike Graham: 'I don't care what happens to Shamima Begum'
Radio host Mike Graham stunned listeners as he claimed he “couldn’t care less” if former schoolgirl Shamima Begum “perishes in the desert” after asking to return to the UK.
Ms Begum has asked to return to the UK along with her unborn child after travelling to Syria to join terrorist group ISIS in 2015. Speaking on talkRADIO, the radio host said:
“The former schoolgirl who fled Bethnal Green and a school in Bethnal Green when she was only about 15-years-old, she joined ISIS, in a Syrian refugee camp.
“She married some guy, she has had two children already, both of whom have died. Which she doesn’t seem to be too bothered about.
“Both of whom died because of various things that happened to them while she was in this camp.
“She has now decided, having got pregnant for a third time, that she wants to come back to Britain and she think that Britain owes her a living, owes her the care and the upkeep for the rest of her life.
“Well, I don’t think we do. I think if you leave this country to join a terrorist organisation which is bent on destroying western civilisation, I’m afraid all bets are off.”
He added: “You can stay where you are, I couldn't care less if she perishes in the desert.
“I don't care what happens to her as long as she doesn't turn up back here where she does not belong. It is as simple as that.”
Ms Begum married a Dutch ISIS fighter and during her stay with the terrorist organisation gave birth to two children, both of whom have died.
Speaking on Radio 4’s Today programme, Security Minister Ben Wallace insisted that he would not put the lives of Brits “at risk” to go and look and rescue people like Ms Begum.
He said: "I'm not putting at risk British people's lives to go and look for terrorists or former terrorists in a failed state.
“There are consular services elsewhere in the region and the strong message this Government has given for many years is that actions have consequences.”
Ms Begum was one of three schoolgirls from the Bethnal Green Academy, in east London, who travelled together to Syria.
The Security Minister admitted that as a British citizen, Ms Begum could return to the UK, but would be investigated.
