New defence secretary: “Dead terrorists can’t hurt us”

Any British citizens who have fought for Daesh should never be allowed to return to the UK, according to defence secretary Gavin Williamson.

In an interview with the Daily Mail, the man who replaced Michael Fallon at the start of November revealed he was prepared to hunt down and use airstrikes against the 270 UK passport holders who have travelled to Syria and Iraq to join the terrorist organisation.

Mr Williamson used some stark and strong words to demonstrate his no-nonsense approach to tackling Islamic State.

“Quite simply, my view is a dead terrorist can’t cause any harm to Britain,” he told the newspaper.

“I do not believe that any terrorist, whether they come from this country or any other, should ever be allowed back into this country. We should do everything we can do to destroy and eliminate that threat.”

His comments come after Britain’s terror watchdog Max Hill QC stated his view that some concessions should be allowed for “young and naive” people who were “simply brainwashed”.

However, Mr Hill insisted that these people should still be prosecuted if they committed serious criminal offences.

More than 800 UK citizens are thought to have gone to Iraq and Syria to fight for Islamic State. Roughly half of them have already returned and around 130 have been killed, which leaves around 270 still active.