a punishment without due process. Simply removing citizenship may please ministers, but it isn’t justice in
any sense. Government ministers shouldn’t offload Britain’s responsibilities to other countries.”
Letts, a Muslim convert from Oxford, became known as “Jihadi Jack” after travelling to Syria in 2014.
Now 24, he was captured as he tried to flee to Turkey in May 2017 and has been charged by Kurdish
authorities with being a member of Isis. The British government has refused to repatriate Letts for trial and
removed his UK citizenship, making him a sole Canadian national.
Ralph Goodale, Canada’s public safety minister, said: “Terrorism knows no borders, so countries need to
work together to keep each other safe. Canada is disappointed that the United Kingdom has taken this
unilateral action to offload their responsibilities.”
It remains unclear whether Canada is willing or able to prosecute Letts for terror offences, and politicians
have reacted to the UK’s decision with outrage. The row comes days before Boris Johnson is due to meet
Justin Trudeau at the G7 summit in France. Dominic Raab, the UK foreign secretary, met his Canadian
counterpart Chrystia Freeland in Toronto earlier this month and discussed Letts.
John Letts and Sally Lane arrive at court in May
(PA)Mr Goodale’s office said Canada was under no legal obligation to facilitate the return of Canadian citizens
detained in Syria, adding: “We will not expose our consular officials to undue risk in this dangerous part of
the world.”
John McKay, chair of the Canadian parliament’s committee on public safety and national security, called the
British government “gutless”. “This young man is entirely a British subject – he’s raised British, educated
British, everything about him is British,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. “The only remote
connection he has to Canada is through his father, and frankly I don’t think it’s the way two allies should be
treating each other.”
Mr McKay said Canada would not be able to prosecute Letts for joining Isis, adding: “Our legislation works
on the assumption that you have to leave from Canada in order to be prosecuted for a terrorist offence, so
we are unable to initiate any prosecution.”
Letts’ father, organic farmer John Letts, visited Canada last year to call for the country’s government to help
his son leave Syria. He said he found out his son’s British citizenship had been removed last month, and The
Independent understands the decision was made under former home secretary Sajid Javid. His father is
Canadian but his mother, Sally Lane, is British and he was born and raised in the UK.
The pair were convicted of funding terrorism by sending their son £223 when they knew he was in Syria,
but were spared jail in June. They have maintained their own innocence and defended their son, vowing to
lobby Canadian politicians to repatriate him. In an interview with Channel 4, John Letts branded Mr Javid a