"Shame On You!": Maajid Nawaz Attacks Priti Patel For Banning Shamima Begum
29 September 2019, 15:15 | Updated: 29 September 2019, 18:38
Priti Patel today said that Shamima Begum will never be allowed to return to the UK. In a powerful speech, Maajid Nawaz told listeners why he thinks this is "hypocrisy".
In response to Professor Anthony Glees on LBC today, Maajid said: "I don't think a terrorism expertise is what is required here for comment.
Actually, this is a legal question. It's a rights-based question."
He added: "Should citizenship be treated by our country like a visa or is there a difference fundamentally between having a visa and being a citizen?
"I believe in the latter.
I think citizenship is a fundamental inalienable right and countries need to take responsibility for their citizens, good and bad."
He went on: "If we start making citizenships like visas, withdrawing them when we don't like something that someone does...
This means everyone in this country will begin to have a tenuous relationship on their citizenship based on the whims of the majority."
He explained: "We got rid of foreign terrorists from our country but when our terrorists are in foreign countries and they're telling us to take them back, we don't want to.
That is the definition of the meaning of the word hypocrisy."
He then told listeners who the things Priti Patel and Sajid Javid say about citizenship make him "cringe" and "squirm" because they set a "despicable precedent."
Maajid said: "Shame on you Priti Patel!"
He concluded: "We're not leading by example."
