Home secretary delayed to answer questions by Caroline Lucas about fate of British citizens allegedly part of Isis cell

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

A senior Conservative MP has reprimanded the home secretary, Sajid Javid, for failing to answer parliamentary questions about the government exposing British citizens to the death penalty overseas.

Charles Walker, chair of the Commons procedure committee, wrote to Javid describing his failure to respond to written queries from the Green MP Caroline Lucas as an “unacceptable discourtesy to a fellow member”.

Lucas has asked three questions since 18 October last year relating to the fate of El Shafee Elsheikh and Alexanda Kotey, two British Islamic State suspects, who could ultimately be executed if extradited to the US.

Behind the Isis ‘Beatle’ Elsheikh is a story of breakdown and despair | Nesrine Malik Read more

Elsheikh and Kotey, who were raised in Britain, are alleged to have been part of an Isis terror cell known as “the Beatles”, which is thought to have carried out 27 beheadings of US and UK citizens in Isis-held territory.

Both have since been deprived of their UK citizenship and are being held by Kurdish forces in Syria. In a high court case last year it was revealed that Javid decided to cooperate with US authorities over their prosecution without assurances they would not face the death penalty in order to avoid “political outrage” in the Trump administration.

Subsequently, the Home Office security minister, Ben Wallace, stated that cooperation with foreign states in other cases involving the death penalty was not unprecedented. He declined to identify the countries or individuals concerned.

Wallace told MPs: “A review of available records dating back to 2001 has been undertaken and I can confirm that this has occurred on two previous occasions that have been identified, under successive governments.

“Due to the potential to harm ongoing criminal investigations or future prosecutions, and the confidentiality attached to mutual legal assistance, it would not be appropriate to share further information.”

Caroline Lucas, the MP for Brighton Pavilion, then put down a series of parliamentary questions for Javid asking for more information about the two previous occasions.

The Green MP believes the refusal to answer is part of a wider pattern of Home Office evasion. Questions about undocumented migrants dating back to May last year remain unanswered, her office said.

Walker’s letter, seen by the Guardian, was sent to Javid on 5 February. It says: “All members are entitled to expect a response from ministers to questions which have been tabled and as you know the procedure Committee monitors the timeliness of answers provided by government departments.

“The failure to respond to the question, and the failure to respond to the subsequent questions tabled, is in my view an unacceptable discourtesy to a fellow member.”

Jihadist 'Beatles' complain they will not be given fair trial Read more

Lucas told the Guardian: “It’s completely unacceptable that ministers are so brazenly refusing to answer my basic questions about government failures to protect people from the death penalty. This lack of transparency around serious breaches of human rights denies families the right to seek justice.

“That this is part of a wider pattern of Home Office failures to respond to MPs’ questions is deeply worrying. It is our job to hold the government to account, and by fobbing us off Sajid Javid is undermining a core function of parliament. He must listen to the chair of the procedure committee and urgently come clean about the government’s record on the death penalty.”

A Home Office spokesperson said: “We have responded to the first of the parliamentary questions from Caroline Lucas MP. It is our intention to reply to the supplementary questions in parliament as soon as practicably possible.”

The death penalty for murder was abolished in Britain in 1969.