Field: Let jihadis flee Britain and die in Syria

SENIOR Labour MP Frank Field was branded irresponsible last night after claiming it was ‘fine’ for radicalised British adults to join Islamic State in Syria – because if they were killed, it would boost Britain’s security.

The former Minister declared he was worried ‘not one iota’ about British extremists going to fight in Syria.

Mr Field said: ‘I think we should have no worries about letting them go because the chances are some of them will get killed and that increases the security of this country.

‘If people want to practise their evil, better go and practise it with the mates who’ve actually taught them about this evil than inflict it on my constituent or anybody else.’

But last night, Tory MP Alec Shelbrooke condemned Mr Field’s remarks, claiming the Government was right to seek to stop British jihadis from getting to Syria.

He said: ‘Not only is this irresponsible, it’s ill-thought-out.

‘It’s not looking at the long-term consequences – even if British jihadis in Syria don’t come back here to carry out terrorism acts, they can act as a recruiter of more people from this country to go out there.’

Speaking on BBC Radio, Birkenhead MP Mr Field made clear he was not talking about the case of Kadiza Sultana, the 17-year-old British schoolgirl who ran away to join IS last year and is now understood to have died in an air strike in Syria. Her case was ‘horrendous’, said Mr Field, stressing the Government should draw a clear distinction for children, and saying it had a duty to protect young people and should focus most effort there.

But it was a different matter when it came to adults. ‘If adults want to go over there and get killed, fine,’ he said, although he made clear it was important to know if any British jihadis were returning to this country.

Environment Minister Therese Coffey criticised his approach: ‘I am somewhat surprised by your assertion to just allow people to go abroad and they might get killed.’

Last night, Mr Field stood by his remarks about adult Britons travelling to fight for extremists in Syria.

He said: ‘I am relaxed about letting them go but I am unbelievably tough about letting them back in again.

‘The resources used to control their going should be used to prevent them coming back.’