Learn from jihadi bride

YOU saw me as a poor op oppressed Muslim woman. I am an e engineer. I am a jihadi.”

That Th shocking line of dialogue in the finale final of BBC’S Bodyguard had 10 million viewers view gasping.

The Th petrified wife of an Islamist terrorist had w won the pity and trust of Afghan veteran Sergeant Serg David Budd as he helped defuse her suicide vest on a commuter train.

But B now, seemingly meek Nadia was wa revealing herself as the bomb-making bo mastermind.

And A that plot twist made us challenge ch our preconceptions tion about “brainwashed Jihadi Jihad brides”.

What Wh i f they weren’t victims? victim What if some didn’t need coercing into populating the caliphate ca or killing for it?

Those Th questions resurfaced this week when pregnant Shamima Begum, 19, said s she wanted to return to Britain.

Begum Be left Bethnal Green four years ago for Syria.

She S married an Isis fighter, lived with barbaric barb monsters, wasn’t fazed by a severed seve head in her dustbin and seems utterly utte without remorse.

But Bu her parents insist their girl was groomed groome and, as she’s lost two children of her own, ow she and her unborn baby need

I WAS baffled to hear the stunning Margot Robbie is to play Barbie in the movie of the iconic doll’s life.

I thought they’d need someone with plastic t**s, a ludicrously proportioned body and a frozen facial expression.

Like Katie Price, perhaps?

But I’m way behind the times, because toy maker Mattel have been updating Barbie over the past three years.

They’ve given the dolls a range of skin tones, more realistic body shapes and more relevant accessories. Like a Ken with a manbun. This week it was announced rescuing. Maybe they’re right. Perhaps she is a victim.

But what if she’s as dangerous as the fictional Nadia?

Do we risk bringing her home for deradicalisation? Do we guard her at great cost while deciding whether to prosecute – as the far right stir up fury?

What about the hundreds of other fleeing British jihadis and brides wanting to get back to the “home” they betrayed? Shamima Begum can’t possibly be allowed back into Britain, can she?

And yet...

I keep thinking about the first episode of Bodyguard when Sergeant Budd looked into the eyes of the terrified woman about to blow herself up. He made a human connection. He talked her down. He helped her step off the path to hell and saved countless lives. And millions of viewers felt a bit sorry for brainwashed Nadia but still wanted her jailed to atone for her crime.

Because that’s what makes us better than barbaric jihadis. So maybe we should bring Shamima Begum home and challenge her shocking dialogue.

It might help us plot a better ending for all the r real jihadi brides.

Barbies with disabilities will be in shops by autumn – including one in a wheelchair and another with a prosthetic leg. Good for them.

Charity Scope says they’ll be “game changers”, giving youngsters the chance “to play with dolls that represent them and their lives”.

Let’s hope the film is true to life too. Margot Robbie says her role will “have a tremendously positive impact on children”.

But I’m still baffled how the star can turn Barbie from a plastic plaything into a relatable icon for the feminist #Metoo generation.