There’s nothing ‘lefty’ or feeble in allowing sexually abused schoolgirl Shamima Begum to fight her case

If there were more women and mothers at the beating heart of government, we never would have gotten into this mess in the first place, writes Janet Street-Porter

Begum had an arranged marriage to a Dutch Isis fighter, aged just 15 (Metropolitan Police)

She’s a striking young woman. Her face, impassive and beautiful, stares out from front pages and television screens. Shamima Begum – the brainy teenager who ran away with two friends to become an Isis bride aged 15 – is desperate to come home. Now, the Court of Appeal has ruled she must be allowed to do so, to plead for the return of her citizenship in person.

Throughout, she has remained an enigma. Consider these two views:

Paul Morris wrote in a letter to the i newspaper, “Shamima Begum is barely 20 years old. She’s seen her three babies die. She’s alone and friendless in a refugee camp. She is unloved. And yet Priti Patel and her Home Office do not have the compassion to let her return home. I am appalled, disgusted and ashamed.”