REVEALED: Nearly 120 people stripped of British citizenship in past three years

BARRED: Shamima Begum is having her British citizenship revoked for supporting ISIS

HOME SECRETARY Sajid Javid has revealed 118 people have been stripped of their British citizenship in the last three years.

Mr Javid announced the figure in response to urgent questions lodged in Parliament by Matthew Offord, Tory MP for Hendon, in response to a Sunday Express news report and the ongoing row over the bid by Jihadi wife Shamima Begum, 19, to return to the UK after fleeing from the crumbling ISIS regime she joined four years ago.

Mr Offord said: "There is huge concern in this country about the return of Shamima Begum. This is an individual who willingly travelled to Syria to become a supporter of a terrorist organisation. She has shown no remorse about her decision, and it appears that she wishes to return to the United Kingdom only because of the benefits that this country can offer her. Many people are very angry about that."

TOUGH STANCE: Home Secretary Sajid Javid vowed to remove her citizenship

Mr Javid replied: "My honourable friend went on to ask me a number of related and important questions. He said that in some cases we can remove British citizenship. That is what I have referred to as deprivation. As I have said, the Government have done so on more than 100 occasions. If someone who has more than one nationality—British nationality plus another, or perhaps more than one other—is deemed a threat, and I consider this to be conducive to the public good, we can deprive that individual of their British nationality, and thereby prevent their return to the United Kingdom."

It emerged yesterday that Mr Javid has begun the process to strip Begum of her British nationality.

Official Home Office figures show that in 2016 14 people were deprived of British citizenship and in 2017 104 were.

ANSWERS: Dr Matthew Offord MP wants the figures released

Figures for 2018 are not yet released.

the Home Office refused to provide a breakdown showing how many of the 118 were people returning from Syria and Iraq who supported ISIS.

People can have citizenship removed for non terror-related activities such as serious organised crime, or for obtaining it through fraudulent means.

The Sunday Express report revealed that the Met Police and Home Office were refusing to say what offences around 40 people who were prosecuted after they retuned from overseas fighting were convicted of or their sentences on grounds of "national security."

They also would not confirm how many out of around 400 who have returned have been arrested or are being monitored.

Mr Offord also asked for these details to be confirmed.

He added: "How many British nationals have returned from Syria? How many have been prosecuted for offences? What offences were they charged with? How many have been convicted? If we do not address this issue, not only do we risk the security of the United Kingdom but we put into doubt the safety of thousands of our Muslim constituents and we put them at risk of discrimination, abuse and violence. I make a great distinction between my hard-working, law-abiding Muslim constituents and the actions of a reckless child from east London. I ask the Home Secretary to take action on this vital matter."

Mr Javid dodged the issue, providing no figures.

He said: "My honourable friend asked about those who have returned in recent years. In all those cases, we would seek to make sure, first, that that individual is questioned, investigated and, where there is enough evidence, prosecuted. We would seek to manage that return, so even if they are a British citizen, we can issue temporary exclusion orders. That will remove their passport and require them to travel on a specifically issued designated travel document into a specific port of entry."

Mr Offord is awaiting written responses from the Home Office to the questions.