Should Briton who flee to Iraq and Syrai to join Islamic State be hunted down and killed?
“A dead terrorist can’t cause any harm to Britain,” Williamson said, adding that he believes terrorists should never be allowed to return home. “We should do everything we can do to destroy and eliminate that threat.”
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The minister also told the newspaper that jihadist groups in Libya, Iraq and Syria were believed to be plotting attacks on the UK, and that “our job in terms of eliminating will not stop this year, will not stop next year – it is something we have got to continue to pursue”.
Williamson’s comments were criticised by former Liberal Democrat leader Paddy Ashdown, who said defence secretaries “should be measured, careful, judicious and thoughtful about what they say, not apprentice cadet versions of Donald Trump”.
More than 800 British citizens are believed to be fighting for Isis in Iraq and Syria, including teenagers, women and young families, The Guardian reports.
-
Le Pen back in the dock: the trial that’s shaking FranceIn the Spotlight Appealing her four-year conviction for embezzlement, the Rassemblement National leader faces an uncertain political future, whatever the result
-
The doctors’ strikesThe Explainer Resident doctors working for NHS England are currently voting on whether to go out on strike again this year
-
5 chilling cartoons about increasing ICE aggressionCartoons Artists take on respect for the law, the Fourth Amendment, and more
-
Panama and Canada are negotiating over a crucial copper mineIn the Spotlight Panama is set to make a final decision on the mine this summer
-
Why Greenland’s natural resources are nearly impossible to mineThe Explainer The country’s natural landscape makes the task extremely difficult
-
Iran cuts internet as protests escalateSpeed Reada Government buildings across the country have been set on fire
-
US nabs ‘shadow’ tanker claimed by RussiaSpeed Read The ship was one of two vessels seized by the US military
-
How Bulgaria’s government fell amid mass protestsThe Explainer The country’s prime minister resigned as part of the fallout
-
Normalising relations with the Taliban in AfghanistanThe Explainer The regime is coming in from the diplomatic cold, as countries lose hope of armed opposition and seek cooperation on counterterrorism, counter-narcotics and deportation of immigrants
-
Femicide: Italy’s newest crimeThe Explainer Landmark law to criminalise murder of a woman as an ‘act of hatred’ or ‘subjugation’ but critics say Italy is still deeply patriarchal
-
Brazil’s Bolsonaro behind bars after appeals run outSpeed Read He will serve 27 years in prison
