Denying Shamima Begum a return to Britain could backfire

Today’s decision by the Supreme Court to prevent Shamima Begum from returning to the UK and mounting a legal challenge to the removal of her citizenship sends a strong message to other hopeful Isis returnees. But it might not be a victory in every sense.

Begum’s return to the UK was described by the Home Office as a move that would create ‘significant national security risks’. The government argued that it would expose the British public to an ‘increased risk of terrorism’. They’re right to do so. We know that just one in ten Isis returnees have faced prosecution. The challenges faced by authorities investigating offences committed in overseas conflict zones, such as Syria, could have rendered any realistic prospect of prosecution unlikely.

But while the government seeks to stop Begum returning to protect the British public and safeguard national security, it only achieves this in a narrow sense.