Patrick Christys was embroiled in a fiery debate with immigration lawyer Ivon Sampson who issued a warning about what precedent Shamima Begum’s citizenship removal could pose.
It comes amid warnings that the decision to strip the ISIS bride of her UK citizenship on the basis she is of Bangladeshi heritage could have implications for millions who have family roots overseas.
Begum, who left London to travel to Syria in 2015, was stripped of her British citizenship in 2019.
While Begum was born in Britain, her parents are of Bangladeshi heritage and she has never travelled to their home country.
Ivon Sampson clashed with Patrick Christys
GB NEWS
Speaking on GB News, Sampson warned stripping Begum of her citizenship could risk a “two-tier system”, which would set a “dangerous” precedent.
“Although she was born in the UK, the Home Office can still deprive her of her citizenship, because her parents were born abroad”, he said.
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“What they create is a two-tier system. If your parents are from abroad and you’re British, you have rights, but if your parents are from abroad and you’re white British, you have different rights.”
Christys waded in by “disagreeing vehemently”, claiming Sampson was telling a “lie”.
“I’m white British. My dad is Greek-Cypriot, my mum is Irish, so it’s not as simple as whether you’re white. That’s a lie”, he said.
“If you’re white British and your parents and grandparents are British, there is nowhere else to send you.
Shamima Begum going through security at Gatwick airportPA“There is no two-tier system, it’s a way of making something racist when it isn’t.”
Sampson hit back: “If somebody has no connection, never visited, born in this country and you’re deprived of your citizenship, I think that is disproportionate to the aims they’re trying to achieve.”
“There is a difference, people who have parents from abroad have less security being British.”
Christys interrupted: “Only if you join ISIS”, to which Sampson agreed, saying “of course”.
The GB News presenter continued: “That’s quite a major caveat isn’t it? It wouldn’t affect you, it wouldn’t affect me, it wouldn’t really affect anyone we know.
“The overarching point should be, don’t marry an ISIS fighter, sew people into suicide vests and enjoy looking at beheaded corpses, and you’re probably alright, aren’t you?”
It comes as the decision to deprive Shamima Begum of her British citizenship was unlawful, the Court of Appeal has heard.
Begum travelled to Syria in 2015 – at the age of 15 – before her British citizenship was revoked on national security grounds shortly after she was found in a Syrian refugee camp in February 2019.
Earlier this year, the now-24-year-old lost a challenge against the decision at the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC).
At the Court of Appeal in London on Tuesday, Begum’s lawyers began a bid to overturn this decision, with the Home Office opposing the challenge.