Jihadi Jack stripped of British citizenship
THE Isil fighter known as Jihadi Jack has been stripped of his British citizenship, prompting a diplomatic row between the UK and Canada, it was reported last night.
Jack Letts, 24, a Muslim convert who had held dual UK-Canadian citizenship, declared he was an “enemy of Britain” after travelling from Oxfordshire to Syria to join the group.
He has begged to return, insisting he had “no intention” of killing Britons, after he was captured by Kurdish forces in 2017.
The Home Office has now stripped Letts of British citizenship, meaning he is the responsibility of the Canadian government, The Mail on Sunday said.
The decision, which was reportedly one of the last actions of Theresa May’s administration, is understood to have angered officials in Ottawa. Justin Trudeau, the Canadian prime minister, and Boris Johnson will meet at the G7 summit in France next weekend.
Letts, who travelled to the Middle East in 2014 to join Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil), is now among more than 120 dual nationals who have been stripped of their British citizenship since 2016. The move can only be made against people with two passports, because international law prevents the government from making anyone “stateless”.
It will come as a blow to Sally Lane and John Letts, his parents, who were found guilty at the Old Bailey in June of funding terrorism after sending him money and given 15-month sentences suspended for 12 months.
In an interview after their conviction, they said: “Jack is still a British citizen and we have pleaded with the government to help us to bring him to safety, even if that meant that he might be prosecuted in the UK.”
A Home Office spokesman said: “This power is one way we can counter the terrorist threat posed by some of the most dangerous individuals and keep our country safe.”