Shamima Begum 'asked for £35,000' in exchange for interview to fund return to Britain, filmmaker tells GB News

Mr Drury told GB News: "For the last two years, I haven't seen her, but she's been sending me messages from the camp. Generally, they're fishing to get me to strike up a conversation with her.

"But the recent ones started innocently, and then it went on to say, look, if you want to interview, you can be the only one that's got Shamima when she leaves the camp, if you give her £35,000."

The texts were reportedly sent by Hoda Muthana, an American former Isis member and close associate of Begum, who has also been stripped of her citizenship.

According to the exchanges, Begum and Muthana intend to cross into Turkey and present themselves at their respective embassies to claim asylum, believing this would force authorities to act.

Detailing the messages further, Mr Drury added: "I said that's immoral, you can't do that, and I'm not prepared to do it. And then she started referring to money as mints and jelly babies.

"She was saying, well, I can reduce it down to £15,000 because I've got somebody who can give the money outside the camp. And then what they'll do is they'll then take us out of the camp, get us into Turkey, and that's when we'll claim asylum inside Turkey. So they've already got somebody ready to get them out."

Stressing how under pressure he felt having this information about Begum, Mr Drury told GB News he was "ignored" when he disclosed the information to the Government and MI5.

He admitted: "This is heavy weight on my shoulders, having this information. Believe me, I didn't want this news story to come out. I went through the process of speaking to my local MP, who did nothing, just sent me back and said speak to the police commissioner.

"I then went to the intelligence services, gave them the information, all that was was an answerphone service that they ignored. Then I went to my mate Richard, who's got people in Westminster. They ignored it, both Conservative and Labour.

"We've got potentially people being smuggled out of prison camps, and our Government don't care, they really don't care. Our information is just left."

Asked by host Miriam Cates whether he believes she should return to the UK, Mr Drury made clear Begum "hasn't changed".

He said: "No, I don't think she's got a right to come back. I think the crimes that she committed whilst in Syria outweigh any degree of sympathy.

"I met her victims in the camps. She's known for sewing a suicide vest, she's known for being part of the religious police, and she's got victims over there. Feel sorry for them, not for her."

Recalling his previous six interviews with Begum, the documentary maker branded her a "manipulative character".

He concluded: "This grooming word is quite complex, she didn't sit watching videos. She spoke to me as I sat on her concrete slab outside her tent when she went into this situation. I said, 'were you groomed online? Were you watching online videos?' I've met her, and no she didn't.

"This girl's manipulative, and she's not the kind of girl that the left-wing like to portray. She's not this nice girl, this poor little girl, poor innocent girl at school that watched nasty videos online. She's not, she's a horrible character."

In a statement, a Foreign Office spokesman said: "Protecting our national security is the first priority for the UK Government.

"That is why we are continuing to work with the Syrian and Iraqi Governments, as well as other partners, to protect our shared security."