THE Bolton News is right to argue that towns such as Bolton are unlikely to welcome back someone like Shamima Begum.
Nor, would any other town, I would guess.
She asks for our sympathy but expresses very little in the way of regret.
Yet, however unwelcome we may find her, she is undeniably a British citizen, and as such is our problem.
And we cannot simply get rid of that problem by dumping it on Bangladesh or on the Kurds who have already sacrificed more than anyone else to defeat ISIS.
We pride ourselves on upholding civilised values and the rule of law. If we once abandon those values, then the terrorists have indeed succeeded in their aim.
I have little or no sympathy for Shamima Begum.
My chief concern is for us and what we stand for as a country.
Moreover I believe it is in the interests of safety for us all if people like Shamima Begum are brought back here to face justice rather than be released elsewhere possibly to support further acts of terrorism. Her baby is a different matter, and I hope no one would argue that a newborn child deserves to be punished for the actions of his mother.
However unpalatable it may seem, Shamima Begum should be brought back to Britain to face the consequences of her actions.
Let us be true to the values and the rule of law that as a country we so strongly uphold.
Neil Duffield
Darcy Lever
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