Leo’s loose lips

ONCE again Leo Varadkar loosens his lips at a sensitive stage of EU/ Brexit negotiations, and risks alienating the British parliament that has so far been sympathetic to Ireland just when we need the British on our side.

This time he seems to be claiming that the British home secretary Sajid Javid was wrong to revoke the British citizenship of Shamina Begum as a result of her running off to join the murderous Isis caliphate.

Leo, of course, would not consider such a step, but might consider bringing such a person home and then deciding if a crime worthy of prosecution has been committed. It is wrong, he insists, to make someone stateless. Let us then consider his liberal and illjudged approach to this issue.

There is increasing evidence that the Brexit lobby in the British parliament is becoming thoroughly tired of the endless press releases wherein Varadkar and Simon Coveney seem to be criticising Britain, and losing its support, in attempting to curry favour from the EU. This at a critical time of Brexit negotiations.

We don’t need another Varadkar stick stirring a pot that has nothing to do with us.

Suppose an Irish citizen chooses to slip off and join a gang of mur- derous child rapists and brutalisers of women in a declared ‘caliphate’. Would Leo allow that person to come home when their caliphate dream and their murders have failed, to avail of all of the benefits of citizenship when they had relinquished that citizenship in joining the caliphate?

It would be wrong, according to Leo, to take away their citizenship, but proper to prosecute them as necessary through the courts – for what? Is Isis a prescribed organisation like the IRA in Irish law? If not, what is the miscreant to be charged with? Illegal emigration?

But it would be unacceptable in the refined environment that the Varadkars of this island inhabit to effectively declare someone stateless, even when that person had effectively declared that themselves. So what would you do with Shamina Begum, Leo? Easy to criticise the British home secretary, but what would you do? You haven’t actually offered that.

Is it possible, Leo, that he might be a little bit more mature than you, and might have a little bit more understanding of the problem before he opens his mouth?

Is it distantly possible that you might keep yours closed Leo?

ANTHONY MANSER, Faithlegg, Co. Waterford.